Nothing Too Fancy

Salt 'n' Pepper Fish 'n' Squid

2012-02-03T16:39:00.001+10:00

I always look forward to the seafood when I go up to my parent's house on the holidays - in particular the smoked fish (which I know I've praised here before) and calimari (yum!). Since I've gone gluten free it's a little more difficult to join in with family dinner like that when we have seafood. Usually, we had crumbed fish and calimari deep-fried or fish coated in wheat flour and pan-fried.

So, I had to make my own little batch of fish last time, and I coated mine in a mixture of rice flour, salt, pepper and a pinch of whatever spice I found in the pantry (cinnamon? ginger? I can't really remember, haha!).

I did the same with the calimari, which I cut into strips rather than rings, then popped both of them into a hot non-stick pan with a little oil.

Then I drained them well on kitchen paper, and served with tartare sauce (we were almost out hence my very small blobs, it wasn't virtue) and some cucumber and undressed coleslaw. It was a very summery meal, and one that was light on my stomach, despite the frying.

Hot Coffee and Iced Chocolate - Guess Which I Had?

2012-01-30T13:32:00.000+10:00

I know, that's an easy guess if you know me at all. Earlier this month I was on holidays at my parent's house and my mum and I stopped in at 'Coffee & Cream' for a drink while we were shopping. It's pretty much our go-to in Hervey Bay because the service is great, the food/drinks are always delicious and they have these big squishy couches at the back of the store that we always snag. ;)

I also love Coffee & Cream because they have gluten free options, including the glorious iced chocolate above! It starts with a scrummy chocolate milk, topped with a scoop of extra creamy vanilla icecream, then finally a pile of fluffy whipped cream. I know, lots of adjectives - but it deserves every one of them!

Mum had her usual cappuccino and loved it as much as always. There's more than one reason we keep coming back here. Last visit they even let me borrow a magazine because I got absorbed in an article. We brought it back this visit. :) Now that's service!

Coffee & Cream
30 Main Street, Pialba
Hervey Bay, Australia
(07) 4124 0488
Monday - Friday: 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday: 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM

My First Taste of Zehnder's Gluten Free

2012-01-26T16:23:00.000+10:00

It was my birthday a little while ago and as part of my presents my partner surprised me with a package of Zehnder white bread rolls. I saw them the week before in the frozen section of a local supermarket and really wanted to try them. :) It may seem odd to most of you that bread is a treat, but I'm sure the gluten freebies out there know what it's like!

I made beef burgers that night so I could have a proper burger-in-a-bun for the first time in months.

On the bottom of the roll is a big leaf of homegrown rocket, then the beef burger, then a melty cheese slice (or plastic cheese as we like to call it), and finally caramelised brown onions and a blob of red wine gravy leftover from the night before.

Then on goes the lid and into my mouth! You have no idea how much I enjoyed this. :)

As for the Zehnder's rolls - they're light and fluffy and not adversely affected by the freezing, as you might expect. The only result is a little flaking of the top of the roll. They're great toasted or untoasted and the flavour is very similar to regular bread. There is a very slight gumminess to the texture, but this is part and parcel of using gums to replace the gluten, and it doesn't make the rolls chewy or dampen my enjoyment in them. I would definitely have these again - not all the time because they're $6 something a packet but definitely once in a while as a treat. They also have olive bread, which I'm excited to try next!

Garden Update: Tomatoes Doing Well, Beans Take Over in a Bloodless Coup

2012-01-22T16:22:00.001+10:00

The weather's been alternating between being unpleasantly hot (for me and the plants, although they wilt more obviously) and rainy/drizzly. Most of the plants have stood up pretty well through the heat though and all of them loved the rain. :)

The basil started to flower, but I've been pinching them off so the plant lasts longer. I did this with my last lot of basil and it lasted months. It smells lovely on my hands when I pull the flowers off too. :)

The beans have gone crazy! In the month they've been in the ground they've gone from seeds to covering 1/3 of my the fence on my balcony. Some nights I think they grew two or three inches. I've been twining the little stems around the fence so that it spreads out more and we get a better harvest.

I don't know if it was the heat that killed off the nasturtiums or overcrowding... or maybe it's time was just up. However, I almost never used it anyway, I just enjoyed the colour of the flowers against all the green herbage. As you can see the oregano is going great guns, and the parsley is recovering well from the heat - quite a lot of it died off during the heatwave a couple of weeks ago.

These lettuces weren't getting enough water in the well-drained potting mix they were in so I moved them into this pot of soil. They're doing much better but I know they'll outgrow the pot soon and I have nowhere else to move them!

Here's the other lettuces I moved, next to the rocket. They're not doing too badly but could definitely use some more room too, perhaps I should get another polystyrene box at some point.

Of course, there's no problems with the rocket. It's unbelievably easy to grow and pretty hard to kill so long as you keep watering it regularly. I've eaten from it a few times but as it gets older it gets hotter and hotter. :P

The tomato seedlings shot up during all the rain, and I expect they'll be getting flowers on them soon. I can't wait to see the different colours of tomatoes! I didn't take a picture of the capsicum plants because there's no capsicums on at the moment, I just picked two and I'm currently eating them in my salads. They're quite small compared to storebought ones but more intense in flavour and very crisp.

So! Lots to look forward to - tomato flowers, the beans starting to grow, being able to start harvesting lettuce leaves for my salad and hopefully new blossoms on the capsicum plants. :)

I Won a Fruit and Veg Tray!

2012-01-16T13:09:00.000+10:00

Is that not a beautiful sight? :) There was sweet potato, carrots, red onion, brown onion, pumpkin, capsicum, lemon, orange, tomatoes, peaches, plums, nectarines, corn, rockmelon, bananas, avocado, green apple, red apple and finally, lychees! I didn't stop smiling for the rest of the day. :)

I won it while I was staying at my parents so I had to bestow some of the heavier items onto them - a sweet potato, the rockmelon and the pumpkin. I'm glad I did, they were heavy enough as it was!

Now I've been working on ways to use up all of the produce or make it last longer. I waited for the pineapple to ripen some more then cut it up yesterday, now there's little baggies of pineapple in the freezer for Pizzas Future. Today, I made some avocado dip (recipe coming up soon), and froze half of that too. By the way, you can totally freeze avocado dip so long as it's the smooth kind and not the chunky (otherwise the structure of the chunks kinda breaks down and becomes unpleasant). Finally, I'll be making some peach crumble tonight, much to my partner's delight. Most of the rest will get used up in everyday eating - the bananas, nectarines, carrots etc. are already well on their way out. :) This wasn't a huge win, but it was a very useful one and I think that those are the best.

A Quiet Christmas with Plenty of Crunch

2012-01-12T12:46:00.000+10:00

For the first time in a few years, my partner and I spent our Christmas Day at home by ourselves.

Our tree on Christmas Eve

I love celebrating with family but I also like variety, so it was a nice change from a bigger family celebration. Most Christmases we have rolled turkey roast, but this year we went with roast pork for something different. :)

The Christmas lunch spread

I slow roasted the pork on Christmas Eve, then let it rest overnight so it'd be tender and juicy (in the fridge of course!). I just rubbed oil, salt, pepper and a little ground garlic onto the meat before it went into the oven.

It was lovely and moist, even having spent the night in the fridge, and tasted awesome! I separated the skin from the roast the day before, rubbed it with plenty of salt and let it dry in the fridge overnight. Then on Christmas morning I cranked up the oven quite hot and blasted it with some oil and more salt. E voila, crackling!

To go alongside the pork, I made some simple gravy, flavoured with more garlic and some dry sherry.

To keep things easy and relaxed, there was just two side dish - the first being coleslaw. I had mayo all ready to go onto it, but when I checked the ingredients I found it contained gluten (why???) so I had mine dry.

It was just shredded coleslaw, grated carrot and finely sliced red onion, I like it fairly basic, but I would've liked some dressing! The other side was roast potatoes, which my partner cooked to perfection.

They were cooked using Jamie Oliver's tips - ie. par-cooking the potatoes, shaking them in the pot once they're drained to make them fluffy on the outside, and using very hot oil (we heat an oiled tray in the oven before adding the potatoes). They were crunchy, which I love, and fluffy inside with a lovely buttery flavour.

Here's my plate all loaded up, I added some parmesan (a Christmas present, thank you Dear!) to my coleslaw.

Just one final touch...

...a torrent of gravy over my roast pork! Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas munches as much as I did!

Flatbread Ideas: Haloumi Salad Wraps with Tahini Sauce

2012-01-08T13:24:00.002+10:00

Every payday I get myself something nice for lunch, once upon a time this was a kebab or a burger... something with bread in other words. :) Once I went gluten free, my main two options in town were a salad from Subway or a 'healthy box' (basically a kebab without bread in a little takeaway box) from the local kebab shop. I know somewhere in town there are other options, but finding them is a problem, plus I've found many salads even have croutons or dressings added with mystery ingredients. I prefer to play it safe rather than guess and get sick - from long and unpleasant experience!

This was my alternative, buying ingredients and whipping up my own tasty lunch (more effort but much tastier). It uses one of my favourite, recently-discovered ingredients, corn tortillas.

I started out by slicing some haloumi cheese and frying it in a pan until brown and crisp on the outside.

Then I got to work on the tahini sauce, here's the (very easy) recipe.

Tahini yoghurt sauce

1/2 cup plain or Greek yoghurt
2 tsp tahini (hulled or unhulled is fine)
1 tsp crushed garlic
Salt and pepper

Mix ingredients together in a bowl and season to taste. Serve as a spread on rice cakes, toast or sandwiches or use as a dip. It can also be thinned with a little milk to give it a drizzling consistency, and you could then use it as a salad dressing. Very versatile! :)

Okay, time to assemble our wraps! Smear a little of the tahini sauce down the middle of a tortilla, topping with the cooked haloumi.

Then top with your choice of salads, I used shredded iceberg lettuce, finely sliced Spanish onion, and chopped green olives. The next time I made it I added some grated carrot and it was wonderful too. :)

Then roll up (some tortillas need to be heated before using to be pliable, be sure to check the packet) and munch away!

I Can't Help Falling in Love (With Kebabs)

2012-01-03T11:52:00.000+10:00

I never really agreed that small things amuse small minds - I like to consider myself relatively intelligent but small things amuse me all the time! It's been a long time since I had a proper kebab, because of the bread obviously, and I wanted a title that showed my happiness at them re-entering my life. So, this logically lead me to google a top 100 list of love songs and try slotting 'kebab' into the titles and laughing at the results. The one I chose was my favourite result that halfway made sense but not the funniest.

My creative process went something like this...

Ooh, great list! Oh, hey, they misspelled Bryan Adams' name.. not cool. HA! Hey dear, Everything I do (I do it for kebabs), hahahahahaha! I Just Called to Say I Love Kebabs, teeheehee! Can't Smile Without Kebabs, *snort*. OOH, You're My First, My Last, My Kebab, that's my favourite so far! And so on. :)

Anyhow! I got this kebab from Ali Baba in Sunshine Plaza, they have a new gluten free flatbread (based on rice flour if my memory serves me). I got more or less my historically standard order (doner kebab with lettuce, onion, olives, mushrooms and cheese) but the garlic yoghurt sauce wasn't gluten free so I chose sweet chilli instead.

Yum! I'm definitely going back for dinner sometime with my partner so I can have another one of these babies. It was a touch dear (although probably pretty standard for food court fare) but definitely worth it for a once in a while kebab hit. It was nice to be able to feel pretty normal when I ate with my friends, and to not have to search for ages finding something I could eat.

I've Finally Found my Perfect GF Cupcake!

2011-12-29T13:08:00.000+10:00

Every so often, I pick myself up from the disappointment of my last attempt at cupcakes (with a sigh and a fervent wish that THIS time they won't feel like kitchen sponges in my mouth) and google around for more recipes. This time, thankfully, I stumbled across a chocolate cake recipe on Nellbe's Gluten Free Kitchen. I halved the recipe to make cupcakes (luckily, or I would've ended up with 24 of them and nowhere to store them).

THIS is the result! :D Light, fluffy cupcakes that actually rose and had a great chocolate-y flavour. The icing was pretty simple, a mixture of butter (or dairy free margarine) with a couple of heaped teaspoons of cocoa and plenty of icing sugar. I just kept adding icing sugar until I got the texture I wanted, then a tiny bit of hot water to make it glossy. This is the first time I've piped icing onto cakes and it went a bit haphazardly, but these ones turned out okay (the pick of the bunch!).

Here's the interior so you can see it's divine fluffiness. My big tip for making these successfully is to mix everything together at once except the bicarb soda. Leave that out until the very last second, when the oven is already hot. Then whisk it into the mix to make sure it's evenly distributed and quickly spoon it into your prepared patty pans/oiled muffin tins and straight into the oven. The bicarb soda only foams for so long, and if it's stopped fizzing by the time it goes into the oven all of that lovely fluffiness will be gone. Don't panic though and start throwing cake batter everywhere in a hurry, you have a little leeway but just don't dawdle. :)

I finished them with a sprinkling of silver cachous, which I think instantly make any cake look a touch fancier, don't you? :)

Merry Christmas to All!

2011-12-25T10:00:00.000+10:00

I'm afraid I'm not much of a Christmas crafter or even a very organised baker, so no fancy how-tos or tutorials from me. However, I do wish you and your loved ones a fantastic Christmas and a safe and happy new year! :)

I'm celebrating with my partner today, with a quiet lunch at home, and then in a couple of days I'm train-ing off to see my family and celebrate with them. We're having roast pork this year at home, we usually have a rolled turkey roast but hey, something different! :) I hope the crackling works out, I'll post about it once the food coma's worn off and I've stopped playing with my new toys.

The cute little ornaments above are from Stacey Winters, I won them in a giveaway a little while ago on Little Gray Pixel, along with some gorgeous little cards. I'd already sent my cards this year, so I've packed them away to give to some special someones next year.

Happy holidays everyone! Try not to eat your bodyweight in turkey and remember candy canes are NOT a food group. ;)

Garden Update: Plenty of Oregano and New Tomato Seedlings

2011-12-23T12:58:00.000+10:00

It's raining a little today, so my plants are loving it - no sun beating down on them to make them wilt and plenty of water. The basil seedlings have shot up in the past week or two, soon I'll be able to start picking off leaves to put on my pizzas.

The capsicums are much less convoluted and tiny than the first harvest were - there's another one behind that's nearly as big. Hopefully soon they'll start going red and I'll pick one. :)

As per usual, oregano is having a party, the parsley is a little less enthused but I suspect it'll pick up with the cooler weather and rain.

These are the rocket seedlings all (nearly) grown up, you can still see the little ones next to them, they weren't thriving in the other potting mix (too well drained), so I dug up the catgrass and planted them in here. They've already got new leaves so they must like the new spot.

Here's the spinach, it doesn't look like any variety I've seen before but I had some in risotto cakes and it tasted fine. :) It's a touch droopy but the rain will perk it up, I was going to go out and water it but the sky took care of it for me. Apparently spinach isn't great grown in summer, it goes to seed very quickly (which was the case here), but I've been pinching off the seedheads and using the leaves. I think soon I'll just pick them all and blanch/freeze them, then dig up the plants and try something else. I've got some climbing bean seeds, I might move things around so it can be against the balcony fence and try growing them next.

As you may tell by the ominous gap behind the basil, the remaining tomato plant finally gave out (after two years of faithful service). I have a packet of mixed gourmet seeds, including a yellow 'Pineapple' variety and a purple one, this is the first of the seedlings to pop up but I didn't label them so it'll be a nice surprise finding out which is which. :) So tell me, Mary Quite Contrary, how does your garden grow?

MOR Lip Macarons: Incredible and Almost Edible

2011-12-16T18:31:00.001+10:00

I was lucky enough to win the Moxie competition on Shopping Intervention a little while ago, which meant yesterday a big parcel full of feminine hygiene products arrived at my door! You may question why that makes me so happy but Moxie make lovely products and include a stylish little tin in each box to protect them in the ravaging depths of your handbag. Plus, it means I save some much needed money coming up to Christmas. The pack also contained a MOR Lip Sync Trio of their scrumptious lip macarons. :)

It comes in a gorgeous bauble-like tin which cracks open to reveal three flavours: French vanilla, peach nectar and rosebud. The French vanilla smells like an expensive dessert, which is to be expected given its a macaron! The peach nectar is evocative of a beautiful fresh peach, and is sweet without being cloying, as many fruit scents are. Finally, MOR have managed to make the rosebud macaron smell culinary somehow, I worried it might smell like talcum powder. However, if anything it reminds me of rosewater and good quality Turkish delight.

The balm goes on smoothly, making my lips feel soft and moisturised but not greasy (which I hate!). On the MOR website, it says that they contain vitamin E as well, so they aren't just a pretty face. ;)

Opening these and smelling them made me wish I were a cat temporarily, so I could experience them in all their glory (and possibly so I could roll around on the carpet stretching my belly, it looks like fun). On the other hand, the last time she sniffed one of my favourite lip glosses, she recoiled in horror, so perhaps not. All blather aside, these are indulgence at its best - kilojoule free!

To Bread or Not to Bread?

2011-12-09T16:24:00.001+10:00

I love bread. One of the biggest annoyances of eating gluten free is the difficulty in finding a bread that's practical, tasty and doesn't fall to pieces in your hands. I've tried packet mixes, to bake my own at home, and the results weren't bad, but the bread is still a bit unwieldy. You can really only use it for toast after the first day after baking, it's just too stale and crumbly for anything else. I've pondered making it from scratch myself as well, but... well, frankly I can't be bothered! :) I loved making bread before, especially things like pizza bases (which I still make now because it's easier than a loaf) but gluten free bread seems to involve a multitude of flours, gums, binding agents... blah blah blah.

Source

The most useful replacement for day-to-day use that I've found are corn tortillas. You have to be careful which kind you buy (Diego's, Mission and Woolworths Select all make gluten free corn tortillas) because many tortillas contain a mix of corn and wheat flours or are solely made from wheat. The best value ones I've found so far are the Woolworths Select ones, $4.00 for 10 tortillas. You can use them to make the usual enchiladas, quesadillas etc of course, but they're also great for regular sandwich wraps or baked until crunchy and served with dips.

I've even tried making my own flatbread that's quite similar, I promise I'll post the recipe up soon if you want to make them yourself, as well as an idea for a lunch made with corn tortillas!

Egg-free AND Gluten-free Pancakes - Thank Me Later

2011-12-02T22:28:00.001+10:00

First off though, I'm actually fine eating eggs, we just ran out and I wanted pancakes. :) These are probably more like crepes but I haven't really experimented yet with making a thicker batter and therefore thicker pancakes. I'll let you know how it goes. ;)

Egg-free Gluten-free Pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup rice flour (white or brown is fine)
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp tapioca starch
1/2 tsp GF baking powder
1 tbsp caster sugar
pinch of salt
milk as needed

Mix all of the dry ingredients together (the flours, baking powder, sugar and salt). Add milk and stir until you have the texture you'd like (thicker for pancakes, thinner for crepes). Leave it to stand for five minutes, then heat an oiled or buttered frypan to medium-high. Pour mixture into the pan a couple of tablespoons at a time, flipping when lots of little bubbles appear in the uncooked side. Cook until golden brown, top with whatever you like!

Some toppings my partner and I have tried and liked: honey, nutella, lemon juice with sugar, maple syrup (or spread), cashew butter, mixed berries, caramel sauce, chocolate sauce - the only limit is your imagination. :) I love that about pancakes!

Rice Paper Spring Rolls with Dipping Sauce

2011-11-27T19:29:00.000+10:00

I really do miss those crunchy wheat-laden deep-fried spring rolls, but I know these are much better for me anyway (and very tasty)! I used rounds of rice paper, which you can buy at any old supermarket now (or Asian grocers have them pretty cheap too). The filling is simple to make - I fry off 250g of pork mince, season it to taste with soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil, then prepare my salad and noodles. The noodles are bean thread vermicelli, and all you need to do is cover them with hot water, or some brands need a quick simmer (check the instructions on the packet to be sure).

For my salad, I cut up batons of cucumber, shaved ribbons of carrot using my vegetable peeler and finely chopped some red onion - normally I would use spring onion but we didn't have any. The rice paper contains directions for use, but basically you dip it into a shallow dish of water, then lay it flat on the counter/a damp teatowel for filling and rolling. I added the salad, then noodles and finally the pork mixture, before rolling it up carefully. Last of all I made a dipping sauce from oyster sauce and soy sauce, floating some fried garlic (bought in a jar) on top. Yum! :)

I'm Dreaming of a Halloween Grave Cake

2011-11-23T18:42:00.000+10:00

This is from a couple of days after Halloween, I just wanted to show what the cake itself looked like.

It was surprisingly good, being just a cheap packet mix (Basco brand I believe) from the supermarket. I love how green the icing came out! :) The biscuits went stale pretty quickly but went soft rather than unchewably hard, as many gluten free baked goods do. I'm thinking now about what kind of cake I'll make for Christmas - snowy-topped cupcakes, one in the shape of a christmas tree, a giant bauble? :) Any other ideas people?

Speaking Out and Reaching Out

2011-11-18T08:25:00.006+10:00

Today, I'm participating in the Speak Out linky hosted by Wanderlust, raising awareness about domestic violence and talking about resources that are available. I know it's a departure from my usual light-hearted food posts, but I think it's important to talk about this issue and bring it to people's attention.

Domestic violence often seems like something that happens to other people, someone you heard about on TV, or saw in a newspaper. However, 34% of Australian women have experienced some form of violence from a partner (Monash University), and many of those women report that their children had witnessed the violence (Australian Domestic & Family Violence Clearinghouse). Domestic violence isn't limited to women, it can be siblings, partners, spouses, children.... it takes many forms and sometimes you may not even know it's happening until somebody else tells you.

If you, or someone you know, is experiencing domestic violence or abuse, there are resources available to you. They may help you recognise the symptoms, plan for your future and keep you and your loved ones safe. Tune In, Not Out is a valuable resource, containing a fact sheet, videos, forums and many contact numbers for further help. They also have some excellent safety tips in the factsheet, and links to legal information so you know your rights. Some other resources are linked below. Most important of all to know - you aren't alone, there are many people, organisations, hotlines and services available for you to reach out to.

Resources
Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria

ReachOut.com.au - Domestic Violence
Australian Government Violence & Abuse Resources
Family Relationship Services Australia
Domestic Violence Legal Service

Kristin from Wanderlust is hosting this linky, you can read her powerful story here and read about her journey to healing here.

Mini Pork Pies and Carrot Salad

2011-11-15T20:14:00.000+10:00

I made these pies using the same recipe for pastry I used for Individual Cottage Pies, I just doubled the amount so I could make 12 little ones. :) I filled them with a mix of pork mince, onion, carrot, garlic and a mix of seasonings and sauces.

There were enough left over last night for us to have them again for lunch today. I have to say though, pastry made with gluten free flour is best fresh, it's a bit drier the next day.

Aren't they cute though? :) I topped them with some yellow sweet mustard and some dribs and drabs of my homemade tomato sauce. I made a couple of bottles worth the other day with my homegrown tomatoes! I'm very excited whenever I get to use homegrown stuff in the kitchen. The salad is a mix of grated carrot, cheese, sliced spring onions and chopped black olives.

I'll post the recipe for the tomato sauce sometime soon, it came out very tasty, and a lot more complex than bought sauce.

Is That Rice Out to Get Me?

2011-11-09T21:07:00.000+10:00

I studied Food Safety this semester, sort of a combination of the legal aspects and the microbiological ones. The problem with that is it makes you paranoid. You worry about things you never even knew existed before, like Bacillus Cereus. I know you're all clamouring to know what that is! It's a bacteria commonly found on rice that can grow to dangerous levels if you cook rice and then leave it out for a long time at room temperature. It has some nasty symptoms, which you can read up on yourself if you like, but the scary part is that it can develop in buffets where they leave fried rice dishes out for a long time (or in restaurants that leave rice out to cool overnight).

Source

There's a picture of it, so if you spot it in some fried rice you know to avoid it (I jest, of course).

A much larger problem is salmonella, which is inherently present on/in chicken and eggs. This is why you should always cook your chicken right through and why uncooked eggs are such a risky prospect for vulnerable populations (like children, the elderly and the immune suppressed). It sounds a little odd speaking of eating uncooked eggs, I know, but many foods can contain them including mayonnaise and Caesar dressing. Eggs commonly have Salmonella living on the shell, so it's important when you're buying them to avoid buying cracked eggs. Those cracks allow the Salmonella to enter the egg and contaminate it. There was a foodborne outbreak here in Australia recently at a school camp, where the bread and butter pudding was slightly undercooked in the centre and contained eggs that had cracked shells.

Source

Salmonella is probably the most common cause of foodborne illness worldwide, over 40,000 cases are reported each year in the US alone (Wikipedia). You see what I mean about paranoia? :) Happily, a lot of the prevention is common sense, keeping your kitchen and hands clean, separating raw and cooked foods, storing food correctly (and at the right temperature). Check your local government websites, they're bound to contain information about foodborne illness and how to prevent it, or check out Safe Food Queensland or the US Food Safety website.

Have you ever had food poisoning? Did you report it and go to the doctor or just tough it out?

Slow Cooked Silverside and Potatoes

2011-11-05T13:55:00.000+10:00

We don't get to have roast meat very often, last time we were doing our grocery shopping we spotted a mini silverside beef roast. I was planning to just roast it in the oven, but as I thought about it I decided it would dry out awfully quickly, being so small. Instead, I used the slow cooker, in what I guess is something like a pot roast (I've never done one of those, I think it's an American thing because I've never heard anyone here say they've done one either!).

I diced three potatoes and cut up on onion, then added that to the slow cooker along with a heaped tablespoonful of tomato paste, a teaspoon of crushed garlic, 1/4 cup of Chinese cooking wine and 1 cup of beef stock. Then I gave it all a good stir and nestled the beef in the middle on top, so it was half submerged. I cooked it for about 3 1/2 hours, then got it out to rest in some of the liquid while the potatoes finished cooking. Finally, I sliced the beef thinly, drained the potatoes and thickened the cooking juices to use as a gravy.

It was really tasty! The meat, potatoes and sauce were flavourful, the potatoes perfectly cooked the meat just pulled apart easily with a fork, hardly any cutting required.

I served it with a salad made with grated carrot and cheese, sliced stuffed green olives and finely diced Spanish onion.

I know, it seems an odd dish to serve alongside salad, but we are heading towards summer you know. :) I could happily eat slow-cooked meat all year round though, weather be damned!

Happy Halloween: Chocolate Grave Cake

2011-10-31T23:06:00.000+10:00

Halloween is nearly over here and I'll soon be a-snooze in my bed, but I wanted to share this with you first. :)

CHOCOLATE GRAVE CAKE
Chocolate cake mix (GF in this case)
Icing sugar/mixture
1 egg white
Coconut
Green food colouring
Decorations

Start off with a basic chocolate cake mix (or make one from scratch of course!) and bake it in a loaf tin.

Carefully slice off the top so that you have a nice flat surface to work with. Then crumble the bits you cut off so you have a pile of 'grave dirt'.

Now, time for the icing! :) Place an egg white and a few tablespoonfuls of icing sugar in a medium bowl and beat them together well. Put the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and keep whisking the whole time. Keep adding icing sugar and whisking over the heat until it thickens and the sugar is dissolved (how much you add really depends on a lot of factors). You want it the thickness of lightly whipped cream, it will thicken further when you take it off the heat.

Now add a good handful of desiccated coconut and mix well. The final step is adding the green colouring to make it look like (oddly fluorescent) grass!

Blob it onto the top of the cake...

...and spread it out evenly, making sure it isn't toooo smooth.

It's easiest to do this with (clean) slightly moist hands. This icing sets hard and dry on the outside (but still lovely inside) so to get the grave dirt to stick you'll need to smear a little honey on it.

Now add your grave dirt, making it roughly rectangular and trying to keep it from falling off everywhere - harder than you'd think!

Finally, your decorations! You'll remember my gravestone biscuits from yesterday, well this is where they'll come in handy. :) Cut a little slit in the cake for your gravestone and add whatever else you may like - bones, worms, insects... the world is your oyster!

I, very sneakily, made a skull and a couple of bones to go with the cake when I made my cinnamon gravestones.

I've never really done cake decorating before so I'm very impressed with how this turned out! I hope you all had as much fun this Halloween as I did. :)

Happy Halloween: Cinnamon Gravestone Biscuits

2011-10-30T20:29:00.001+10:00

I love Halloween. It's not celebrated as much here in Australia as it is in some other countries. Partly, I suspect this is because the larger part of our immigrants come from countries that don't celebrate it. There's also a feeling amongst some Australians that it's an American thing and we already have enough 'Americanisms' here. However, Halloween was celebrated rather sparsely there to begin with and was popularised in America by Irish immigrants. It's linked to a very old celebration of the harvest called Samhain, still celebrated by some pagans. The name is derived from All-Hallows-Even, the eve of All Hallows or All Saints Day, observed amongst some Christians to honour any and all saints. I try to drop a knowledge bomb on people when they say "But Halloween's American! Why would we celebrate it?", but it's slowly catching on even without my help. :)

I know it's not quite Halloween, but I couldn't wait to start making the treats. I based this recipe pretty loosely on 'Orange Animal Cookies' in 200 Gluten-free Recipes.

CINNAMON GRAVESTONE BISCUITS
1 cup gluten-free plain flour (of course you could use regular)
1/3 cup rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter, cut into small cube
1 egg
4 tbsp tap water

Place the flours, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and butter into a large bowl. Mix it well and then rub the butter into the dry ingredients using your fingertips. Keep going until there are no more lumps of butter and the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Now add the egg and water, stirring until you have a firm dough. Add the water a little at a time, stirring between additions, just in case you don't need it all.

Tip the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out until 1/2 cm thick. Use a cutter of your choice to cut it into biscuits - I used a cross because it was the closest I had to a gravestone. You could also just freehand whatever shape you want using a small, sharp knife.

Place the biscuits onto greased oven trays and cook at 170 degrees Celsius for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Cool on the trays and decorate as you wish. :)

A Long Overdue Balcony Garden Update

2011-10-27T20:17:00.000+10:00

I don't think I've even posted about my balcony garden since I moved a year ago. This is just the part that has vegetables and herbs in it. :)

Some of the plants are still the same ones I had back then, including one of the tomato plants I raised from seedlings at my old house.

As you can see, it's still very productive, I think I must have gotten at least 2-3kg of tomatoes off this plant alone.

Next to the tomatoes, at the far end, I have just planted some spinach seeds, and the seedlings are starting to pop up.

I'm hoping to use a lot of it as baby spinach in salads and such but if I end up with too much of it I'll blanch and freeze some for using later. Perhaps some spinach and feta pie or adding some to risotto cakes?

Next box down - oh that reminds me, I'm growing these in styrofoam boxes that I got for free from the local supermarket. I don't think styrofoam is recyclable, so if the boxes aren't reused like this they're just thrown away. So not only is this an economical thing to do, it's environmentally friendly too. They're a good size for growing vegies in, deep enough for the root structure.

Anyhow! The next box down has two capsicum plants in it.

There's three on there at the moment, they take a while to grow, so they couldn't totally replace what I buy from the supermarket. However, capsicums are usually fairly dear and this will help supplement. :)

Next to the capsicums are some herbs - parsley, oregano and nasturtiums which have just gone to seed.

Finally, the last styrofoam box has just been planted with salad leaves.

The more sparse seedlings on the left are rocket, and on the right is lettuce - I believe it's a mix of red and green leaves.

Here's a couple of the other, non-edible, plants on my balcony :)

We Interrupt Your Scheduled Programming for Gratuitous Junk Food

2011-10-20T14:06:00.000+10:00

Obviously, pre-gluten-free :) This was my favourite thing to buy at Hungry Jack's - the $5 Stunner Meal (okay, it's as much because I'm cheap as the taste).

I loved this at the time but I don't miss it as much as I thought I would. The burgers are okay, but I can make nice ones at home.

Chips I can still eat depending on where I get them from, and I love homemade oven-baked ones anyhow.

I still love to take them out of their packet though and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper :)

Soft drink? Well, that's still fine, lol. There are very few drinks I can't have, and I never was a big soft drink fan in the first place. 99% of what I drink is plain water.

Mmm, icecream. You are a little more troublesome, so many icecreams have wheat starch thickeners or malt. Not to say that there isn't some I can have, there are quite a few brands now. Mmm, I might not be able to eat this anymore, but I still appreciate a great junk food perve!

Come On, I Know You Miss Pizza Too...

2011-10-16T16:12:00.001+10:00

It's right up there with fresh crusty bread for me, I love pizza - especially homemade. It took me a long time to develop a recipe I was happy with, but this is the best version I've done so far. :)

Not only is it tasty and have a nice texture, it's also pretty easy!

BEST-SO-FAR GLUTEN FREE PIZZA

Ingredients:
1 sachet (approximately 7g) dried yeast
2 tsp caster sugar
2 tsp olive oil
Warm water
300g gluten-free self-raising flour
1/2 tsp dried Italian herbs
Salt and pepper

Method:
Tip the yeast, sugar and olive together into a medium bowl and stir together gently. Add approximately 1/2 cup warm water, or enough to cover them with an inch or two over the top. Mix and go read a book for ten minutes. When you come back, check that it's gone nice and frothy, this means your yeast is alive and fermenting happily away.

Add the flour, herbs and seasoning and mix well. Then, pour in enough warm water so that it comes together into a dough. Don't stress too much about this part, if it gets too runny you can always add a little extra flour. Sprinkle your work surface with flour, and tip out your blob of dough. Knead it briefly until it's nice and smooth, then put it back into the bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for half an hour (it doesn't make a huge difference if you don't have this much time, you can leave it for 15 minutes if you want).

Pour a little olive oil onto a pizza tray (or any flat tray you would like to use), then place your dough onto. Squish it out toward the edges, making sure you don't press your fingers right through it. When it's evenly pressed out, add your toppings and pop it into a 220 degree Celsius oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the base is crisp and your cheese melted. :)

Here's a side shot so you can see that it's not totally flat, hard and chewy like most gluten free bases.

And look! It actually goes brown and crisp on the bottom! :)

P.S. If you aren't on a gluten-free diet, you can make this too. Just replace the gluten-free SR flour with regular plain flour, you don't need the extra boost of the SR.

Just How Fresh is That Egg?

2011-10-08T14:00:00.001+10:00

When I was growing up, we always kept chickens, so a steady supply of fresh eggs was something I took somewhat for granted. Now, like most people, I get all of my eggs from the supermarket, and it's hard to know sometimes how long it's been since they were laid.

Source

Obviously this has impacts on how long you can keep them, but changes will happen long before they become rotten. Some preparations like egg white foams (important in foods like meringue or souffle) achieve much better results when you use fresh eggs. But why is that?

Source

Egg foams are formed when you beat or whisk egg whites, denaturing (or unwinding) the proteins and rearranging them to incorporate air. A fresher egg contains a thicker egg white, which doesn't foam up as much but is more stable. Older eggs will produce a greater volume of foam, but it won't be as stable and might collapse when you're cooking your lovely souffle. When you're making something that is baked, like a souffle, the air within these pockets expands on heating, and the proteins surrounding them coagulate and hold it in place (for a while anyway!). The difficulty with souffle is that when you remove it from the oven the air inside cools quickly and shrinks again.

Source

When you're making a cold dish with egg white foam such as a chocolate mousse, it's usually the fat in the mixture congealing that holds it together. I know, it sounds appealing doesn't it? However, it's the lovely cocoa butter in chocolate that gives it that indulgently melting texture.

So, you know you need fresh eggs - now how do you figure that out if you don't have the luxury of eggs on tap (so to speak)? I'm sure most of you will have heard of the old trick of putting an egg in a bowl of water to see if it floats. This is due to an air cell contained in the shell, this grows as the egg gets older - so the more air contained in the egg the more buoyant it is.

Source

You can also check freshness once you've cracked the egg. One thing to note is that the yolk of an older egg will be flatter if the egg is old. As I mentioned earlier, the white of an older egg will be thinner than a new egg, so when you've cracked it you will see a noticeably runny white. In addition to affecting the formation of foams, it will make the eggs more difficult to poach. Instead of having a lovely neat globe of egg, there will be ragged edges and probably pieces floating around in the water.

If you'd like to read more about egg freshness, you can read about it in more detail at the Merritt Poultry blog, or on this Sunny Queen fact sheet.

Gluten Free Bread with Tuna and Mayonnaise

2011-10-03T22:58:00.000+10:00

Toasted, naturally. :)

This was made from the Basco packet mix too, but without any extras added. I toasted it and topped it with iceberg lettuce, plain tuna, some mayonnaise and grated (actually chopped into matchsticks because it was the last little sliver) cheese.

How to Avoid That 'Leftover' Taste

2011-09-29T10:48:00.001+10:00

A few posts ago, I reviewed the amazing ‘On Food and Cooking’ by Harold McGee, and I’m still working my way through it slowly. One of the interesting tidbits I’ve gleaned from it is regarding ‘warmed over’ flavours in leftover meats.

Unsaturated fats are responsible for these off flavours, and meats that contain a higher amount of saturated fat, such as pork or chicken, are more prone to developing them. The unsaturated fats are broken down by exposure to oxygen and by iron within the meat itself. This produces the unpleasant flavours associated with reheating some leftover meats.

Mr McGee suggests several ways to avoid this: you can use spices and herbs that have high amounts of antioxidants (such as rosemary, oregano and bay leaves); you should wrap the leftovers with as little air contained as possible (to lessen the exposure to oxygen); and reheat as little as possible, whilst still maintaining food safety.

If this sort of thing is as fascinating to you as it is to me, you can buy your own copy of ‘On Food and Cooking’ here. Check out Harold McGee’s website too, there’s a lot of great articles!

Basco Gluten Free Bread Toasted

2011-09-27T15:46:00.000+10:00

As many of you gluten freebies will know, often GF bread will benefit from toasting once it’s a day or more old. I tried toasting my savoury bread make from the Basco mix to see how it performed.

As you can see, it went nice and brown, and the exterior was crisp too. I did have to toast it twice as long as normal bread to achieve this but once toasted, it was pretty damn good. It’s still more fragile than wheat bread, but definitely some of the tastier bread I’ve had since going gluten free.

Tasty Gluten Free Bread: The Holy Grail

2011-09-24T13:42:00.000+10:00

Or it may as well be! Almost every person I speak to who is eating gluten free bemoans the poor (and expensive!) choices available for bread. Generally, gluten free bread is dry, unappetising, and possesses all the texture and flavour of a dried out kitchen sponge. I’ve tried a few different bread mixes at home, figuring that if it goes stale quickly the best thing to do is make it myself.

This time I tried the ‘Basco’ bread mix, and I decided to tart it up a little by adding cheese, green olives and mushrooms.

Here it is straight out of the oven, as you can see it did brown a little and has a nice crust.

It sliced fairly easily actually, not as well as wheat bread but it didn’t crumble apart like some other breads I’ve tried.

Here’s a closeup so you can see the savoury bits throughout. :)

Fresh from the oven, this was tasty, but it did have a slight ‘jellied’ quality from the gums used to hold it together. I’d definitely have it again though, as it’s economical and has a good flavour.

Gluten Free Myth Busting: Glutinous Rice

2011-09-19T19:37:00.000+10:00

Glutinous rice contains gluten.

FALSE!

[Source]

Glutinous rice is a short-grain variety of Asian rice, which is extremely sticky when cooked. This stickiness (similar to that provided by gluten in other grain foods such as bread dough) is the reason the rice is described as glutinous. However, like other rices, it doesn't contain any gluten and is perfectly safe for Coeliacs and gluten intolerant people to consume.

Many Asian countries have traditional dishes based on glutinous rice, including Burma, Japan and Korea. It can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes and is often formed into balls or other shapes. Here are just a few ideas, if you'd like to cook glutinous rice yourself:

Sticky Rice Chicken Dumplings

Ohagi (Japanese Sweet Rice Balls)

Stir Fried Glutinous Rice

Lotus Leaf Wraps (Lo Mai Gai)

Thai Mango Sticky Sweet Rice

Foodie Review: Alter Eco Fair Trade Dark Chocolate Velvet

2011-09-13T11:53:00.004+10:00

Alter Eco is an international company dedicated to providing consumers with high quality products whilst maintaining social responsibility. They have a wide range of 'Fair Trade' products, including quinoa, tea, coffee and of course, chocolate! For those of you unfamiliar with Fair Trade, it ensures better trading conditions for producers in developing countries and promotes sustainability. You can read more about it here on the Alter Eco website.

The product I received for review is the 'Dark Chocolate Velvet', described as dark chocolate with a "delicate touch of milk".

This is an ideal chocolate if you (or any of your friends!) are professed chocoholics. It combines the rich, deep taste of dark chocolate with the smooth finish of milk. On taking it out of the packaging, you're immediately hit by a heady perfume of intense cocoa, giving you a preview of the flavour.

The chocolate gave a nice crisp snap when I broke it into pieces, and had a smooth, glossy surface. I melted the first piece on my tongue - it had a complex, deep flavour, bitter-sweet with a taste that lingered in the mouth.

I'm a huge fan of dark chocolate, so I was in heaven, but even my partner who's a die-hard milk chocolate eater said that it was velvety like a Belgian chocolate and very aromatic. It wasn't quite sweet enough for his taste, but I think of it as a chocolate for people who like it to taste of itself, not diluted with huge amounts of milk and sugar.

Not only is 'Dark Chocolate Velvet' delicious, it's 100% natural! It doesn't contain any chemical additives, artificial flavours or emulsifiers. In addition, by purchasing Alter Eco chocolate, you are helping hundreds of small-scale farmers, so you too can be socially responsible whilst titillating your tastebuds. :)

You can find out more about Alter Eco and their many delicious products on their website, Facebook page or Twitter.

I received this product for review purposes only, I was not compensated for this post. These are my own honest opinions on the product.

Corned Beef - 4 ways!

2011-09-08T11:07:00.000+10:00

We don't eat corned beef a lot - mainly because there are only two of us and it's rare to see small pieces of it in the meat section of our local supermarket. However, when we do cook it, we generally get three or more meals out of it, without really trying. :) Of course, there's the original meal - usually we have mashed potatoes alongside our corned beef, along with a generous smear of mustard and whatever salad we have to hand.

Usually, I'd use the leftovers (and some fresh veg) to make a cottage pie.

EASY COTTAGE PIE
Leftover corned beef
1 large carrot
1 large onion (brown or white)
1 clove garlic, whole or crushed
Tomato paste
Tomato sauce
Yellow mustard
Seasoning
Mashed potatoes

Cut the beef, carrot, onion and garlic into medium-sized chunks (no bigger than about 4cm square). Throw the lot into a food processor, you can do the vegetables separately if your's is a little old and tired like our's! Blitz until everything is roughly minced. Remove to a large bowl, add a heaped tablespoonful of tomato paste, a couple of teaspoons of mustard and plenty of tomato sauce, until the consistency is moist and holding together. Season to taste and spoon into a baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes, making a rough surface with a fork and topping with dabs of butter if desired. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius, until heated through and starting to turn golden brown.

However, the other night my partner suggested we try something a little different with our leftovers this time. I'd been making pie pastry recently, because I was having trouble finding a GF brand anywhere. It's a very basic short pastry, and perfect for single serve pies. So, I made us each a little pie, filled with the usual cottage pie meat mixture.

INDIVIDUAL COTTAGE PIES (Makes 2)
Cottage pie filling (as described above)
30g gluten-free self raising flour
95g gluten-free plain flour
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp lemon juice
55g butter, margarine or spread of your choice

Weigh the flours into a medium bowl, adding the salt and lemon juice before stirring well. Tare your scales and add the butter or margarine. Then remove from the scales and rub the butter in well using your fingertips. Continue doing this until the mixture resemble breadcrumbs (as the recipes always say). Then add water, a little at a time as you stir, until the mixture comes together as a dough. Knead lightly a couple of times on a floured surface, then divide into four balls. Flatten each of these with your hand, until you have a rough disc slightly larger than your pie dishes. Place one into the base of each dish, pressing with your fingers so that the edges meet the top of the tin. Spoon in the cool filling, top with the other disc of pastry and pinch it around the edges so that the two discs stick together, sealing the pie. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius until the pastry is firm and golden brown.

Once it's baked, this is what you get:

Finally, there was enough mixture left over from the individual pies for one more meal. If you're a long term reader, you'll have seen savoury toast pop up more than a few times. :) I figured the mixture was already pretty similar to savoury toast topping, why not add some cheese and an egg and go the whole hog?

CORNED BEEF TOASTS
Cottage pie filling (see first recipe)
1 egg, lightly beaten
A handful of cheese
Toast

Stir the egg and cheese into the corned beef mixture. Turn your grill onto medium-high or your oven to approximately 160 degrees Celsius. Spoon generous helpings of the mixture onto slices of toast, spreading out evenly with the back of the spoon. Place under the grill or on trays in the oven, cooking until the cheese is melted and the mixture has set.

Yum! I hope this has given you some new ideas for how to deal with leftovers. I know my ideas are a bit student-y and not very gourmet, but that's the whole point! They're all extremely economical and every one of them is delicious. :)

Foodie Review: On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee

2011-09-03T10:52:00.002+10:00

Does anyone else remember that song from the nineties, "Things That Make You Go Hmmmm"? I'm probably dating myself by mentioning it, but I do have a point: Harold McGee is the master of all those foodie 'hmmmm' questions. By that, I mean "Hmmm, I wonder why egg goes white when you cook it?", "Hmmm, what's the best way to cook my steak so it stays juicy?", or even "Hmmm, why is MY cheesecake covered in cracks when the one in the cookbook is perfectly smooth?!".

If you've ever pondered these things, On Food and Cooking contains the answers! This book is encyclopaedic, I actually thought it would make a great textbook for 'Food Science' classes at uni, but it's also immensely readable. I've been reading a little every night before bed, and I fall asleep thinking about how mousses set, the structure of milk and different methods of cooking meat. The information isn't completely theoretical, this is science directly applied to things you're doing every day in the kitchen!

The book's divided into types of food: Milk and dairy, meat, fruits, sauces etc and each of those sections contains subsections based on specific foods or cooking methods. The science is broken up by quotations and recipes from historical texts and interesting pieces of lore, which assist in understanding the content and provide further food for thought (a pun only mildly intended).

Since I've started reading 'On Food and Cooking', I've already started applying my new knowledge to my cooking. For example, we had corned beef for tea, and I knew that it would be more moist if I left it to cool for a while in the cooking water (because the water-holding capacity of the meat increases as it cools and it reabsorbs some of the water that's been squeezed out during cooking). That's what I mean about it being practical, this isn't 'interesting-but-what-do-I-do-with-it' information.

A foodie background or interest in food is essential for enjoying this book of course, but you don't need a science degree to understand the text. I've been really excited waiting for it to arrive and I wasn't disappointed by the content. If you haven't read/heard of Harold McGee before, check out his website, Curious Cook. I guarantee you, if you've ever had any of those 'Hmmm' questions, you'll love 'On Food and Cooking'! :)

Buckwheat Pancakes From Scratch!

2011-08-29T14:31:00.002+10:00

After my recent post about Buttermilk Pancakes from a packet mix, I got the feeling there were a lot of other gluten freebies out there wanting a better solution. Well, in response to the post on the Nothing Too Fancy Facebook page, Barbara J Gibbs gave up her secret recipe! ;)

BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES

Ingredients:
1 part buckwheat flour
1 part White Wings gluten-free SR flour
Gluten free baking powder
Cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Combine these ingredients to make your very own pancake mix to keep in the cupboard! :) When you want to make it up, just add 1 egg (preferably free range), milk (cow's, soy, or any other kind will work fine) and water until pouring well. If you want to make pancakes, make the mixture thicker, for crepes you'll need a thinner batter.

Optional: For a nutritional kick, add some LSA mix or tahini. You can also add a dash of maple syrup and olive oil.

Barbara sells this and many other mixes at local markets and has had rave reviews. :)

Revelations and New Directions

2011-08-27T22:57:00.001+10:00

A few days ago, I realised something. Working on my blog had become, like so many other things, just another chore, just another thing on my to-do list.

To Do:

wash the dishes
do physiology revision
write a blog post

I was disappointed enough that at first I thought of maybe giving up the blog to make room for other things in my life, like study, housework and maybe even relaxing occasionally. I mentioned this to my partner and he said something simple, but it was enough to change my mind: "That'd be a shame, you put a lot of work into it."

After that, I thought "He's right! I didn't put all that effort into it over the past year and a half to just give up now." So, I started thinking about how I could make it easier/more fun to include blogging in my life.

The first step was fixing those niggling little things that bother me about my blog (one of which is one most people probably don't notice, that my header is made up of a title and an image attached to the background rather than being in the header itself) and give it a little spruce-up. I made some little Twitter and Facebook buttons to go in the left sidebar, and felt rather accomplished. Just as well, because it took me all afternoon to do all the things I had planned!

Secondly, I'm going to blog less often, but try to make those posts better and longer.

Thirdly, I want to include posts on a wider range of subjects. I blog a lot about everyday food, which I love, but sometimes cooking tea just seems like a bother and I'd really like to daydream about cake instead... or read a book about food science... or maybe enthuse about something cool I learnt about nutrition at uni. I'd like to include those things on my blog as well. :) Obviously, there will be a gluten-free focus as well, and I'll continue posting about recipes and/or products I've found for all you Coeliacs out there.

I hope you're as excited by my new direction as I am and you'll continue to read Nothing Too Fancy. If you have any suggestions or comments about my blog, please feel free to leave them below. I'd love to know what you think about my current layout or any ideas for posts you'd like to see!

Thanks for reading all this text,
Jasmine1485

Buttermilk Pancakes from a Bottle

2011-08-22T20:31:00.000+10:00

I've been doing some of my own experimenting to make gluten free pancakes, and although I've come close, I still haven't reached the fluffy perfection of a pre-mix.

Woolworths generally has a pretty dismal selection of gluten free foods, but they have been releasing more choices under their 'Macro' brand. This buttermilk pancake mix is gluten free, wheat free and yeast free (I've never heard of anyone adding yeast to pancakes, but there you go).

I added some dark choc chips to the mix and they came out perfect! Golden on the outside, fluffy inside with little pockets of melty chocolate.

There's a closeup so you can see exactly how fluffy they are. It might not seem a big deal to the main population, but you gluten-free people know what I'm talkin' 'bout. ;)

Gluten Free Pizza from Domino's

2011-08-19T13:25:00.000+10:00

I got this before my diagnosis, but after I'd started cutting down on wheat.

Domino's offer a gluten-free base and mark on their menu which toppings you can choose (I believe they have a 'GF' written next to them). HOWEVER, and as you can see, it's a big however, their premises are most decidedly not gluten free. They prepare regular pizzas within the same limited amount of space so it would be a small miracle if there was no contamination. This pizza was delicious and I enjoyed it as I ate it, but I most definitely didn't enjoy the hours of pain afterward. It was after this I realised I was more sensitive to gluten than I thought and that I needed to be more careful.

Now, to be fair, I think one or two of the toppings weren't listed as gluten free on the menu, I can't really remember now. :S At the time I wasn't worried, since I was eating small amounts of gluten and feeling fine. However, I had a massive reaction to this pizza and after that I cut out gluten altogether. Because of this, I can't comment on how you'd go with a pizza that had a GF base and only GF toppings. However, with a bit of careful googling, I did find other cases on forums where people HAD done that and still had reactions. It's really dependent on you, how sensitive you are to gluten and whether you want to take the chance.

Chicken Chipolata with a Baked (Microwaved) Potato

2011-08-16T15:19:00.000+10:00

A bit of a misnomer I suppose, but I always call them baked potatoes regardless. :) However, it's a lot easier to cook them in the microwave, just clean them thoroughly, prick the skin all over with a fork and microwave on high on a piece of kitchen towel. The time will vary of course, depending on how big the potato is, but to check it's cooked all you need to do is poke it with a knife or fork.

Once it was cooked, I cut a cross into the potato and topped it with grated cheese, sliced spring onion, Greek yoghurt and sweet chilli sauce.

The chipolatas are always easy to cook, I just fried them in a little canola oil and drained them on kitchen towel. The salad was lovely and fresh, no heavy dressings or overly rich ingredients.

I'm sure you can see for yourself what's there, but just in case: button mushrooms, green beans, green capsicum, and my normal carrot salad mixture (carrot, cheese and spring onion). Yum!

Leftover Toad in the Hole and Salad

2011-08-13T15:16:00.000+10:00

Toad in the hole is just as nice cold the next day as it is immediately after cooking. :) You can reheat it of course, but I'm all about finding the quickest, easiest way to get dinner on the table.

I served it alongside some carrot salad, which consisted of grated carrot (well, really), spring onion, grated cheese and a blog of homemade natural yoghurt.

I figured the plate needed something crunchy to finish it off, so I added some sliced green capsicum.

Easy, fresh and plenty of vegetables, this was a really enjoyable meal. :) Actually, I should make toad in the hole again soon!

Balea Giveaway at Sunt Frumoasa!

2011-08-11T16:03:00.001+10:00

Sunt Frumoasa is giving away a great rang of Balea beauty products!

For more information and to enter it yourself, click below:
Giveaway Produse Balea

Toad in the Hole - Simple and Economical

2011-08-07T12:24:00.000+10:00

This probably isn't a totally traditional version of toad in the hole (which I think more closely resembles Yorkshire pudding), but it IS tasty, and very cheap to make.

TOAD IN THE HOLE

Ingredients:
500g sausages (can use GF ones)
4 medium potatoes
1 large brown onion
1 tbsp oil
1 cup plain flour (can use a GF flour)
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp crushed garlic
Seasoning

Method:
Microwave the sausages on high for a minute or two, until firm enough to cut. Cut the sausages and onions into large chunks, dice the potatoes. Put them into an ovenproof dish and drizzle with oil. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes or until the sausages start to brown and potatoes are tender. Sift flour into a bowl, season and make a well in the middle. Mix in the egg and milk, add the garlic and mustard and stir well. Pour the batter over the sausage mixture in the oven dish, shake to coat evenly. Bake 40-45 minutes until golden and well risen.

Gluten Free Finds: Treats and Snacks

2011-08-03T21:14:00.000+10:00

This is the first post of what I hope will be a series - telling you about great gluten free products I've found and enjoyed. :)

First up is Delites, a thin, crisp rice cracker that comes in a tasty range of flavours, including Flame Grilled Barbecue, Sweet Chilli & Sour Cream and Salt & Vinegar.

My favourite is barbecue. :) They're spicy without being too hot, and the biscuits crunch satisfyingly (almost like the chips I can't have anymore! I'll tell you in future posts which replacements I have found).

Secondly, Sunrice flavoured rice thins - I use these a LOT. In addition to the plain ones, these are my bread substitute, and I usually have these for breakfast and/or lunch with various toppings or served with yoghurt.

There are also sweet flavours, but unfortunately they aren't gluten free. My favourites are the Cheddar Cheese & Black Pepper and Sour Cream & Sweet Chilli flavours.

Finally, something for the sweet tooth. Lollies are a bit of a struggle if you're gluten free, as many of them use wheat flour or wheat-based starches or thickeners. I found these in my local Woolworths supermarket...

Both the snakes and fruit salad use a maize thickener, and contain no other glutenish ingredients. However, they aren't labelled as gluten free specifically, I made a judgement call based on the ingredients list, allergen list and the lack of a 'may contain gluten' warning on the packet. I personally have had no reaction whatsoever to these, so chances are good that they will be a safe treat for you too. :)

I hope this post (and the others that are coming) has helped you find a bit more variety in the supermarket!

A Chinese Restaurant Banquet

2011-07-27T23:05:00.001+10:00

I don't come into money often, but when I do I like to treat my partner and I to either a meal out or a takeaway banquet. Unfortunately this one was a while ago now, but I can enjoy it again via pictures. We decided we wanted to splash out on Chinese takeaway. :D

Ohhh yeah, you know we had leftovers. ;) In fact, I had Chinese for lunch and tea the next day too! We got a container of fried rice to share...

Some steamed dimsims with soy sauce...

My partner got sweet and sour pork..

And I got a 'Shandy combo', which had some chicken and cashews, sweet and sour pork, fried rice and some little pieces of crumbed pork I think. This was obviously before I went gluten free!

Finally, there were some spring rolls and prawn crackers, I think these were my favourite part of the meal, along with the dimsims. :)

This is a once a year treat, but it was goooood.

Healthy and Simple: Chickpea Yoghurt Dip

2011-07-21T17:18:00.000+10:00

This recipe is loosely based on hummus of course, but I usually have yoghurt in the house. Mainly because my Mum got me a Easiyo for my birthday (which I asked for, I've wanted one for ages), and I use it to keep a constant supply in the fridge. Yoghurt is an awesome base for dips, full of calcium, and depending on what kind of milk/milk powder you use, low in fat. I quite often use it for a dip with rice cakes or crackers, simply mixed with garlic, salt and pepper.

Chickpea yoghurt dip is almost as easy to make, especially if you have a food processor. I blitzed up one can of chickpeas, which had been drained and rinsed, adding two cloves of garlic (but you can add to your taste), a teaspoon of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Then I removed it into a bowl, and stirred in 1/2 a cup of homemade yoghurt (Greek or natural yoghurt would work well).

I served it sprinkled with sweet paprika, with plenty of fresh vegies to dip in!

Beer Battered Fries and Chipolatas

2011-07-18T13:14:00.000+10:00

Sadly, I can no longer eat beer battered fries (although in my mind, I'm slowly concocting a rice-flour based, tempura-like replacement), but I remember them fondly.

These ones were cooked in a hot oven so they went nice and crunchy, and served with some yummy pork chipolatas (these I can have because Woolies does GF ones, delicious with tomato sauce and mustard).

The salad is a bit of mish-mash, with grated carrot and cheese, button mushrooms, black and green olives and yoghurt. Alongside them is some green capsicum and slices of cucumber. :)

Banana Cake - Minus the Gluten!

2011-07-15T15:08:00.000+10:00

Banana cake is a perennial favourite in my house, but I'd been a bit hesitant to make it since going gluten free. Visions of dense, brick-like banana cakes danced in my head, but eventually I bit the bullet. :)

I used my regular recipe, adapted from the CWA cookbook, only replacing the normal flour with Melinda's Gluten-Free Self Raising Flour.

The batter came out pretty similar to how it usually does, with only a slightly different texture. I had high hopes when I put it into the oven...

It actually rose quite well initially, but we were cooking something else in the oven at the same time. When the oven door got opened to take that out, the cake got bumped and it collapsed a bit in the middle. No major disaster, but a bit disappointing. I don't think it would've collapsed if it hadn't been knocked though.

HOWEVER, despite the mini-canyon, the cake turned out wonderful! It was as moist and tasty as usual, and I could barely tell the difference.

It was fluffy and held together well, I'm definitely having another go at it (this time I'm leaving the oven shut and unbumped!).

An Easy, Hearty Beef Curry

2011-07-13T15:07:00.001+10:00

Last holidays, Mum and I decided we wanted to make a curry of some sort. She had some diced beef, so beef it was!

We made it using curry powder, so it wasn't exceedingly authentic, but it was delicious. :)

We cooked the beef on a low heat, with onions, garlic, carrot and potatoes, adding water, curry powder and seasoning. Then not long before serving, I thickened the sauce with cornflour, and we boiled some rice to soak up the curryish juices!

A Slightly Extravagant Lunch

2011-07-09T15:03:00.000+10:00

After weeks of ham sandwiches or tuna, sooner or later I crave some treats from the deli. On this lucky day, I found some blue brie on clearance at Woolworths, as well as picking myself up some shaved Danish salami and mild pancetta.

The blue brie was delicious, perfectly balanced between the creamy blandness of brie and the bitter tang of blue cheese.

Pancetta is one of my all-time favourite things to eat, and the great thing is you only need a couple of really thin slices to satisfy the craving.

I topped the pancetta and salami with some sliced marinated green olives, stuffed with pimento. You would not BELIEVE how much I enjoyed this lunch. :) I'm smiling now even just thinking about it.

Beef Spring Rolls - Easy and Crispy

2011-07-07T20:58:00.000+10:00

Sometimes preparing a meal from scratch just seems a tiiiiiny bit too hard and you want something you just throw onto a tray in the oven. :)

These were just Home Brand beef spring rolls but were surprisingly tasty for the price. The pastry was nice and crisp and filled with a savoury mixture of meat and vegetables. I served them with a dipping sauce made from soy sauce, hoisin sauce and sesame oil, with a little bit of sweet chilli sauce.

To balance out the indulgence a little, I added a fresh salad of lettuce, spring onion, carrot, cheese, olives and button mushrooms, dressed with some homemade yoghurt.

Homemade Popcorn Chicken with Chips

2011-07-05T16:52:00.000+10:00

A regular on our meal rotation, but popcorn chicken is always a favourite. :)

We made this using the 'Kentucky' seasoning flour I got from the Chinese supermarket. You just coat the chicken in beaten egg white then roll it in the flour, very easy and tasty!

It was served with crunchy oven chips...

and some sliced cucumber and salad made from shredded lettuce, grated carrot, cheese and Greek yoghurt. It looked kinda like coleslaw, I don't know why I don't make that. I think you just get in the habit of buying particular vegetables so it doesn't occur to me to get a cabbage. I'm definitely pondering some different types of salads though - pasta, potato, coleslaw etc. Watch this space.:)

Experimental Chocolate Honey Biscuits

2011-07-03T13:46:00.000+10:00

This was another of those times that I tried to make something from scratch without a recipe, and it was somewhat a success and somewhat a failure.

It was basically a biscuit dough flavoured with cocoa and honey (which seemed a good idea at the time). :)

As you can see, the texture of the dough was correct and it did, in fact, result in biscuits. That's the success part.

However, it had an explicable flavour of aniseed or possibly fennel and very impressive mouth drying abilities. So I guess that'd be the failure part. :) Never mind, it did keep me from being bored and that was the point after all!

My Best Friend's Birthday!

2011-06-30T23:08:00.001+10:00

The title makes me think of that Julia Roberts movie, although I can't say I ever saw it. Was it any good? It looked pretty silly and girly, so I never did end up watching it. Off-topic of course!

This post took a while in coming because my friend's birthday was in February. :) However, I tend not to do my posts in strict chronological order, I like to mix it up a bit. My friend, her partner, family and I went to the 'Tree Houses' restaurant in Montville. Tree Houses is a collection of tree-top cabins, as well as a site for weddings and other events. The restaurant is surrounded by trees and is just minutes away from a lovely bush walk (although it was too dark for bushwalking when we got there!).

The interior was dimly lit by candles and subtle lighting, and the walls are covered with eclectic pieces of art.

Our lovely waitress took our drink orders while we perused the menu. I have to say the prices were a little steep for me, but then I don't go to restaurants very often! It wasn't expensive for a special occasion meal though. I knew what I wanted as soon as I saw 'steak' on the menu. :)

I didn't get a starter (I only had enough money for the main, oops!), but my fellow diners were nice enough to share. There were scallops, in a rich garlic-studded sauce...

Gooey, cheesy fondue, with bread for dipping...

...and deep-fried camembert with cranberry sauce.

Then the main event! My steak was topped with a creamy garlic sauce and prawns, and served alongside chunky chips and a lovely Caesar salad. My steak was cooked well but I thought the sauce was a little thick and the prawns could've been cooked slightly less. The salad was delicious, and I mopped up the last of the sauce with the crisp beer-battered chips.

Around the table we had...

Coconut crumbed snapper with pineapple salsa and salad...

Slow braised lamb shank in red wine with mash...

Chicken korma with rice and pappadums...

...and the birthday girl had pork loin (divinely tender) on a bed of mash, topped with crispy fried leeks.

That was more than enough food for me, but a couple of orders of apple and forest berry crumble made their way to our table. No one was ready to take on a full dessert by themselves so they got split. :)

The crumble smelled wonderful, and rounded out a great meal. My only quibble was the price, I've had steaks just as nice for a lot less at other restaurants/clubs. However, it was a special occasion and the location was beautiful. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their meal too and we had a lovely night.

Check out Tree Houses restaurant online here.
You can see their current menu here.

Puttin' on the Ritz: Champagne Sorbet

2011-06-25T14:40:00.000+10:00

I know, I know, it's a little bit fancy (and therefore outside my normal scope). :) I actually won a bottle of champagne, I don't normally buy it because I'm not much of a drinker. My partner and I both tasted it but neither of us liked it unfortunately. So, naturally, I started googling around to see what else I could do with it other than drinking it. The most appealing idea was champagne sorbet!

It was pretty simple actually - a mix of champagne, sugar and lemon juice simmered until the sugar was dissolved, then mixed with water and frozen. You have to get it out of the freezer every so often to mix it up with a fork, but it's easy enough. I made up the recipe I used as I went along, but it was pretty similar to this one: Champagne Sorbet.

I was REALLY pleasantly surprised with how this turned out! I was so disappointed in the champagne but this sorbet was refreshing, perfumed and just delightful. I don't use that word very often but it really was. I guess you wouldn't make it with a very expensive wine, but the sugar and lemon would probably dress up a cheap bottle and make it into a very classy dessert for summer. Actually I like cold desserts all year round. :)

Baby, It's Coooold Outside...

2011-06-20T15:31:00.000+10:00

Winter is inarguably here and the temperatures have been decidedly chilly lately. It's the perfect time to whip up a casserole! Well, okay 'whip up' implies a speedy process, but at least the preparation is simple. :)

I started by dicing some beef (any kind will do, because it cooks for so long), potatoes and carrots. I browned the beef in a frypan before adding it to the casserole dish and tossing with the vegies and some crushed garlic.

My casserole sauces are usually improvised (just as my Mum's are), for this one I fried some sliced onions, then deglazed the pan with red wine. Finally I added some honey and beef stock, then poured it over the beef and vegies.

It bubbled away in the oven for about 3 hours (on a low heat of course), then about half an hour before serving I stirred in a little slurry made from cornflour and cold water. This thickens the sauce as it continues to cook, but don't add too much or it'll almost be jelly!

Here's the final result! The meat is tender and soft, the vegetables softened but not mushy and the sauce has a lovely rich flavour from the wine. I really do love winter cooking. :)

Butterflies and Birds from Blackbird Bags!

2011-06-17T13:36:00.000+10:00

Yes, I'm back to alliteration again. Must be my improved mood, given that my exams are over now and I can relax for a while. :) Last month there was a HUGE event called May Giveaway Day, and I was.. well slightly overwhelmed by it, frankly! However, I did potter around and put quite a few entries in, and one of them paid off.

I was the lucky winner of a cute butterfly handbag from Blackbird Bags! It was wrapped very prettily, I couldn't unwrap it until I'd taken a picture of it. :) See the little bird stickers?

Et voila! The bag is made of a lovely soft cotton covered in butterflies. Here's a closeup of the pattern...

The interior features a velcro closure and a handy little pocket that I'm going to use for my phone. It also has a lovely pattern, with these cute little birds.

I'm very happy with it and think the patterns are adorable. :) Thank you so much to Kristina from Blackbird Bags! Be sure to check out her blog for plenty more designs and to find out how to buy yourself a little bit of cute.

Chicken Chipolatas and Salad

2011-06-12T16:09:00.001+10:00

A quick and easy weekday tea, I love chipolatas. :) The great thing about them is that even our local Woolworths has a wide range of gluten-free options. Most of their in-house sausages now have a 'gluten-free' sticker on them, so you can choose from beef, pork or chicken.

I just cooked them in a little vegetable oil in a frypan, turning them until golden brown and a little crispy.

Alongside them is some oven-baked fries, nice and crunchy how I like them! :)

Finally, of course, the obligatory salad, this one of grated carrot, cheese, button mushrooms, spring onion and green capsicum, dressed in a little Greek yoghurt (homemade of course, dah-ling!).

Tapesto!

2011-06-09T14:04:00.000+10:00

Tapesto is a self-invented (although I'm sure it already existed somewhere) mash-up of two of my favourite things - pesto and tapenade.

To make it, you'll need:

Handful black olives, pitted
2 tsp capers
1 clove garlic
40g cheese
1 heaped tbsp macadamia nuts
1 tsp red wine vinegar

Add all these ingredients to a food processor or similar and blend until it's a slightly chunky paste. You don't want it perfectly smooth. Season to taste with pepper, you probably won't need salt due to the olives and cheese, but see how you like it.

I didn't specify cheese, because it's one of those things you can make with whatever you have, be it cheddar or parmesan. For that matter, you could also use green olives or a different kind of nut. I served mine with some Crackerthins to spread the tapesto on.

Homemade Chicken Yakitori

2011-06-06T15:57:00.001+10:00

Last holidays, I bought a Japanese cookbook on sale and I'd bookmarked a few recipes I wanted to try out. One of these was yakitori, the recipe for which was surprisingly simple (although I'm not certain it was authentic).

I started by cutting chicken thigh into roughly similar chunks, along with an onion, then threading them alternately onto skewers. Beforehand, I soaked the skewers in water for half an hour to prevent burning during cooking.

The second part was the sauce, a tasty mixture of soy sauce, sugar, white wine (I think this was a substitute for a more traditional ingredient, sake maybe?) and flour, simmered together until thickened.

I basted the chicken skewers before cooking them in a moderately hot frypan, basting again when I turned them. The sauce caramelised wonderfully, adding crispy edges and a great flavour.

I served the yakitori over an udon noodle salad, dressed with soy sauce and sesame oil and flecked with vegetables.

It was delicious! This could easily be made gluten-free by substituting a GF soy, like Fountain. You could also use rice noodles for the salad (I have made this before with excellent results).

Uni Lunch: Crunchy Potato Wedges

2011-06-04T12:53:00.000+10:00

This is a simple (and junky!) lunch today, I treated myself to some potato wedges from the uni brasserie.

They came with little containers of salsa and sour cream on the side for dipping (I can't think that phrase now without hearing the Flanders family saying "Maybe with a glass of water on the side for dippin'!". Apologies if you don't get that, if you do get it, I recognise a fellow nerd).

I love wedges, and I'm glad I can still have homemade ones now. It's probably for the best that I can't buy deep-fried ones from takeaway stores anymore (although I didn't often before, I swear!). :)

Just Couldn't Stay Away...

2011-06-01T13:45:00.000+10:00

Yup, we ended up at Coffee and Cream again, never underestimate the power of a good sandwich/coffee.

It has a nice modern interior, with a choice of seating. :)

Of course, when 'squishy couch' is one of the options, you'd be a fool not to take it.

At the back of the store is a little nook with two couches, a coffee table and plenty of cushions and reading material. :)

My enthusiasm about my previous sandwich rubbed off on Mum, so this time she ordered one as well - a BLT.

Along with a cappucino, which goes without saying!

I chose my own ingredients rather than picking a sandwich off the menu, I had chicken pieces, Swiss cheese (yum!), spring onion, lettuce and grated carrot.

The bread and fillings were deliciously fresh, I savoured every bite from the first to the last. :) In fact, a decent sandwich is one of the things I miss the most now I'm eating gluten-free.

It makes me wistful just to look at it! I'm not giving up on bread though, I'll keep experimenting until I find one I like. :)

Chocolate Butter Cake.. Ohhh yeah.

2011-05-29T20:11:00.000+10:00

I make no apologies for this food porn, I made this from one of my gigantic Australian Women's Weekly Cookbooks - The AWW Cooking School Cookbook. Incidentally, it is a fabulous book, for both beginners and enthusiasts. It has detailed instructions and step-by-step photos for lots of classic recipes, like butter cake for instance! :)

I topped it with a chocolate buttercream icing, and two different kinds of sprinkles.

Before taking out a generous slice for my partner and then me. :)

Here's a closeup so you can see the texture...

And a picture that I liked because it made it look like a cake Pacman.

Seriously, there's a reason that chocolate cake is a classic. Check out the AWW cookbook, it does make a rather large cake, but that's generally not something people complain about.

I mix my cakes by hand with a wooden spoon, just like my Mum taught me, but this cake would be a lot easier to make with a Kitchenaid mixer (hint, hint!). ;)

Uni Lunch: Huge Chicken Salad Roll

2011-05-27T21:40:00.000+10:00

I don't often buy lunch at uni, it's not very cheap considering their clientele. Once in a while I treat myself though, and this time I chose a wholemeal roll stuffed with juicy chicken, cheese and lots of salad. :)

The first thing I did (after unwrapping it, obviously) was pick out the tomato, which I hate. :S I think it's mostly the texture and sandwich-sogging abilities that I dislike.

The chicken was in chunks rather than thin deli slices and there was plenty of lettuce, cucumber, grated carrot and alfalfa sprouts.

Yum! Luckily, I'm always extra hungry on days when I go to uni, all that concentrating really seems to burn through fuel.

Lunchy Munchies at Coffee & Cream

2011-05-23T20:44:00.000+10:00

Last holidays my Mum and I stopped in at Coffee & Cream, Hervey Bay for a bite to eat. We'd walked past it lots of time during shopping but a peek in the door at the sandwiches and desserts sealed the deal. :)

I spotted a satay chicken salad sandwich that was calling my name, it looked so lovely and fresh.

It was filled with little chunks of chicken, marinated in satay sauce, plenty of lettuce, grated carrot and cucumber slices.

The sauce was a little spicy but not too hot for this chilli wuss, and the crisp, cool cucumber balanced it well.

Mum wasn't hungry, so she just had a cappucino...

Well almost. :)

She also got a beautiful, single, gold-leaf topped chocolate truffle.

Ooh, yeah, check out that sexy ganache filling! It was too small to share, and I had a sandwich anyway. I was happy enough taking pretty photos of it. :)

If you are in Hervey Bay, Coffee & Cream is reasonably priced and they have a nice range of sandwiches, cakes and other tasties. You can either select from the fridge or have an order made fresh and I have Mum's word that their coffee is rather nice too!

Coffee and Cream
48/30 Main Street
Hervey Bay QLD 4655
(07) 4124 0488

Uni Lunch: Soy Rice and Salad

2011-05-20T12:20:00.000+10:00

There wasn't any meat leftover from the night before, but there was some lovely soy drizzled rice, so I threw that into my lunchbox with some easy salads.

The first salad had half moons of cucumber and slices of green capsicum.

The other was grated carrot and cheddar cheese, topped with chunks of button mushroom, this was probably my favourite part of the lunch. :)

Beefy Rissoles with Salad and a Chunk 'o' Bread

2011-05-17T19:12:00.000+10:00

These were homemade rissoles, handcrafted by my Mum, and they were juicy and delicious. :)

I topped them with sweet fried onion and smokey BBQ sauce. The bread is in a chunk because I'm terrible at cutting it, and that is what the bread and knife decided between them.

The meal's rounded out by a salad with cucumber, celery, bought coleslaw and mixed carrot and cheese (which I'm still not bored with, delicious!).

Open Faced Ham and Salad Sandwiches

2011-05-14T14:09:00.000+10:00

Sometimes the simplest things are the best, and there are times when a sandwich can be truly satisfying.

These had fresh bakery bread, covered in sesame seeds, slices of honey leg ham, cucumber, cheese and shredded lettuce, all topped off with a generous shake of pepper.

I accidentally inhaled some of the pepper and sneezed for thirty seconds, but otherwise this sandwich was all tastyness. :)

Tuna, Crackers and a BIG Salad

2011-05-11T19:02:00.000+10:00

Exactly as advertised. :) I love how colourful this plate is, and how many textures there are!

There's the brittle, golden crackers of course...

The soft, shredded tuna...

To the sweetly juicy, crisp vegetables. Can you tell by the adjectives that I enjoyed this lunch? :)

A Simple Smokey Snack!

2011-05-08T18:58:00.000+10:00

Yes, more smoked fish. :) When I have it at my disposal, I can't help myself.

I had it on multigrain bread, with slices of cheese and a bed of lettuce leaves. Then all it needed was a sprinkling of black pepper and it was perfect.

Ah, happiness on a plate!

I've Received a Liebster Blog Award!

2011-05-08T12:14:00.001+10:00

The lovely Di from Max the Unicorn has nominated me for a Liebster Blog Award, thanks Di! :) Max the Unicorn is a fun mish-mash of beauty reviews, movies, celebrity goss and pictures of unicorns and Di discusses them all with a healthy dash of humour.

This Award is to recognise awesome bloggers with less than 300 followers. If you are nominated, please link back to the person who nominated you and nominate 3 blogs who you think deserve it.

I love receiving recognition of course, but I don't want the bloggers I nominate to feel that they have to reciprocate (they're probably busy!), so I'll just talk about some great blogs that I like to check out. :)

Red Lotus Jewellery - Sophia premieres her latest designs, discusses her jewellery-making process and adds a dash of cats, a pinch of Etsy and a liberal dose of her life to make the blog feel homey and welcoming. She's lovely, makes beautiful jewellery and has a well-designed blog, so be sure to go check it out. Yep, right now. Don't worry, I'll wait for you to come back. :)

K Sayer Photography - Kristy's blog is filled with her fabulous photography, seriously I'm so jealous, I wish I could take photos half as well! There's a strong food focus, which is part of the reason I love it so, and Kristy's blogging style is conversational and fun. She has regular competitions (in fact, her blog is the one I won the Melinda's Gluten Free Goodies pack on recently), and is currently giving away chocolate! Yes, chocolate! I knew that would get your attention, get over there now and get your entries in - you coudl win 14 blocks people!

Coconut Crumbs - Rachel is a dietetic intern and nutrition graduate student and I am in AWE of her superior nutrition knowledge. I feel like a newbie compared to her! :) On Coconut Crumbs she shares great, clean recipes, her experiences as a dietetic intern, nutrition tips, favourite books and restaurant reviews. Phew! Her blog has a simple, easy to navigate design, the photography is gorgeous and she gives great advice, which is wonderful when you consider how hard it is to find reliable nutrition advice online!

I hope I've given you some great new blogs to check out and follow, thanks again to Di for nominating me!

Lunch at the Hervey Bay RSL

2011-05-05T13:52:00.001+10:00

Last holidays, my Mum and I stopped in at the Hervey Bay RSL for a pick-me-up. We'd been wandering around the shops and needed an energy boost, but weren't hungry enough for a big meal, so we skipped the bistro and headed to the cafe - Chatters.

Mum went the caffeine route and ordered a cappucino.

Whereas I (perhaps more sensibly, perhaps because I'm a piggie) opted for a sandwich.

It had sliced chicken, cheese, cucumber, grated carrot, red onion and lettuce, and it was bursting with fillings! It wasn't the cheapest sandwich ever, but it was reasonably priced for the quality and amount of fillings. If I wasn't being so strict now with gluten, I'd probably have it again. :)

Uni Lunch: Leftover Popcorn Chicken and Salad

2011-05-02T14:49:00.000+10:00

Yay! There was enough popcorn chicken for me to take for lunch the next day. :)

I added a little container of BBQ sauce to dip the chicken bits in.

Plus a salad of lettuce, cucumber, carrot ribbons and green capsicum. The chicken wasn't crispy like when it was fresh, but it still tasted really nice, especially dipped in the sauce. The salad was crunchy and juicy and balanced out the savoury chicken well. I love this lunchbox!

MGFG - Melinda's Heavenly Chocolate Fudge Brownies

2011-05-01T12:32:00.001+10:00

The cupboards were looking a bit empty (well, empty of gluten free choices anyhow) so I dug out another Melinda's Gluten Free Goodies mix! This time it was the Heavenly Chocolate Fudge Brownies.

I started by getting all the ingredients together, one of the great things about the Melinda's mixes is most of it is already in the box, at most you'll need to add 3 or 4 ingredients but often it's just 2!

The first sachet contained the brownie mix and the second plenty of lactose free chocolate (these really are good for everyone!).

I tipped the mix into a large mixing bowl...

And emptied the chocolate into a heatproof bowl, to melt it together with the butter in the microwave.

A couple of zaps and some stirring later, it was ready to stir into the dry mixture, along with some lightly beaten eggs (if you can't eat eggs, this mixture also works with egg substitutes).

Mix it all together well and you get something that looks like this.

Yum, right? It makes me want to dip a finger right in it for a taste. Now you just tip it into a prepared (greased and lined) tray and smooth it out. The box suggests you can top it with chopped toblerone, but I used dark chocolate chips.

Into the oven to bake and voila!

Take it out sooner rather than later so it doesn't sweat in the tin, and then leave it to cool until just warm before you cut it (it's easier this way, it holds together better).

You could serve them with cream or icecream, but I think they're perfectly decadent just the way they are. Slightly chewy on the outside, a little moist inside, with a rich chocolate flavour (you can't tell it's lactose free when you taste these brownies).

Here's a closeup so you can see the texture for yourself. These tasted, and felt, like they had gluten in them. I really couldn't see a texture difference between these and other brownies I've made. If you wanted them even more fudgy, just cook a few minutes less, as the box suggests.

If you want more information on this and other products from Melinda's Gluten Free Goodies, check them out on their website, blog, Facebook or Twitter!

'Popcorn' Chicken with Chunky Cut Chips

2011-04-30T18:03:00.001+10:00

I started by cutting up the chicken breast into bite-size chunks, before dipping them in beaten egg white and tossing in 'Kentucky' seasoning from the Chinese grocery store. Then they were fried in canola oil until crispy and cooked through, before being drained on paper towel.

I seasoned them with salt and ground black pepper once they were drained and we each had a generous serve (well, you'd understand if you tasted them!).

I think the 'Kentucky' seasoning has Chinese five spice powder in it, it has a lovely subtle flavour that really goes well with the chicken.

We served them with chunky cut oven chips...

And a pretty basic salad...

It was awesome, what else is there to say? :)

Hope You All Had a Fabulous Easter!

2011-04-29T18:20:00.000+10:00

I sure did! :) I spent Good Friday with my parents and brother, here's a snippet of what we did...

We headed off to the pier, I walked right to the end with my Dad to keep him company while he fished (for a while anyway, until I felt myself starting to burn!).

Then I headed back in to find Mum, who was reading in the park at the start of the pier.

Wasn't it a glorious day? :) Mum felt like a wander, so we walked along the esplanade - most things were closed but the fish and chip shops were doing a roaring trade. We stopped off for a snack, I chose an icecream.

A caramel Magnum!

It was covered in thick, crisp chocolate that cracked when I bit into it. :)

There was a layer of milk chocolate around the outside, then unctuous caramel, a thin layer of dark chocolate and then decadent vanilla icecream. It. Was. Good. All that needs to be said!

Mum got a potato scallop, crisp and fresh from the fryer.

Later, after we headed home, I made fish cakes for tea with a big batch of golden trevally that my Dad had caught (not on Friday, it was in the freezer!).

I'd made the recipe previously with a food processor, which makes it a lot easier. I had to hand chop/shred the ingredients for these.

They were delicious with a dollop of tartare sauce and fresh salad, I think they'll become a family favourite. I'll do a post about them soon, complete with a recipe. :) On Saturday I caught the train home and spent Easter Sunday with my partner and cat.

I still haven't gotten through all the chocolate I was spoiled with! I think I'll have to turn some of it into delicious baking.. what a shame!

Homemade Smoked Fish and Salad

2011-04-29T05:53:00.000+10:00

As you may remember, one of my all-time favourite foods is my Dad's homemade smoked fish. In this case, I think it was mackeral, which smokes well because it's oily and doesn't dry out.

You can see, it flakes up beautifully.

I served it with an easy salad, of snow peas, green capsicum, cucumber, black olives and button mushrooms.

Corned Beef with Mash and Salad

2011-04-26T15:48:00.000+10:00

This was another summery meal on my holidays, enjoyed on the back patio with my mum, a book, and then a little later, a whole bunch of mosquitoes.

I love mustard on corned beef, I squeezed out the very last dregs, which is why it has a Jackson Pollock feel to it.

My mum's mash is much better than mine, I can never make it lump-free. Happily it's mostly just my partner and I eating it and neither of us care. :)

I always put Worcestorshire sauce on my mashed potatoes, I don't use it often but it goes so well with mash! I also had some green beans, which I prefer raw.

Finally, I had some celery, green capsicum and a very carrot-y homemade coleslaw, yum!

Doesn't it look nice and crisp? I think the juicy, crunchy texture is why I like raw vegetables so much and dislike cooked ones.

Honey Soy Chicken Wings with Noodles

2011-04-24T08:44:00.000+10:00

We don't eat a lot of chicken wings and drumsticks, mostly because the quality at our local supermarket isn't that thrilling. Generally, the chicken parts on offer are fatty, flabby and unappealing. However, I saw a batch that didn't look too bad and decided to risk it for a long-remembered childhood favourite, honey soy chicken wings.

They were marinated in a mix of honey, light soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and hoisin sauce (pretty different from our childhood recipe, but delicious too!).

The noodles were stirfried with blanched snow peas and carrots, and dressed with a similar sauce to the chicken wings. The sauce was delicious, the noodles tasty, vegetables perfectly tender... and the chicken... still flabby and unappealing. :P Oh well, at least I tried!

Simple, Tasty Ham and Salad

2011-04-22T12:39:00.001+10:00

This meal is from my last holiday to my parent's house, it was hot and nobody felt like slaving over a hot stove. I love this kind of meal on a summer evening, there's no cooking, just assembling and nice cool salads.

There was some bought coleslaw and homemade potato salad...

...And some sliced ham, cucumber slices, celery and carrot ribbons. :)

It was light, fresh and perfect for the weather - do you have favourite hot and cold weather foods?

Melinda's GFG Sweet Caramel Cakes

2011-04-19T13:17:00.000+10:00

I promised in my last post that you'd find out which packet mix I chose to try first, and I delivered! :) I chose the Cafe Style Sweet Caramel Cakes.

Oh yeah, don't they look tasty? I started off by measuring the 100g of butter I needed to melt for the recipe.

Then I cracked a couple of eggs and beat them with a fork...

Before opening the box to reveal the two sachets.

The larger clear packet is the cake mix itself, and the smaller silver one is the caramel for mixing through it.

I emptied the packet mix into a bowl, ready for the wet ingredients.

I worried at first that the mix seemed a little lumpy, but then I realised it was just the almond meal! :) Next in is the caramel, slowly squeeeezed out of the sachet.

Then you just stir it through and you're ready to scoop the mixture into a muffin tray.

They bake fairly quickly, within about 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven.

I left them in the tray for about 10 minutes to cool, then came back and turned them out. They turned out pretty easily, a couple stuck but nothing too calamitous.

They were WONDERFUL. There's a rich caramel flavour, and plenty of sweetness - trust me, you don't need icing or even a dust of icing sugar on these (although that would look pretty). There's a subtle nuttiness from the almond meal, and if you put them in the fridge they go denser and a little chewy, which just enhances them even more.

These are fabulous, not just for gluten-free, they are fabulous full stop. My partner isn't gluten intolerant like me but he inhaled them nonetheless. I'd happily buy these for a treat or to take to a friend's house. You can buy your own at Woolworth's and selected IGA's, but for further stockists you can check the Melinda's Gluten Free Goodies website.

Tasty Treats from Melinda's Gluten Free Goodies!

2011-04-17T16:58:00.000+10:00

I was hugely lucky a couple of weeks ago, and I won the Melinda's Gluten Free Goodies competition on the K Sayer photography blog. I was so excited when it arrived, in much larger quantities than I expected!

A veritable treasure trove of gluten free goodness! :) Here's just a sample of the treats I received...

Now the only question is... what do I try first?!

You can find out what I chose in my next post. ;) After I made my selection, I packed them all away into my pantry, expanding the gluten free section 10 fold.

Be sure to check out K Sayer Photography, not only does she run great competitions, there's also fabulous photography and foodie reviews! If you'd like more information on Melinda's Gluten Free Goodies, or gluten free eating in general, check out their website, blog, Facebook and Twitter.

Simple Snack - Parmesan Toast

2011-04-16T12:12:00.000+10:00

I love parmesan cheese, but it's so expensive to buy the proper stuff that I almost never get to have it. I don't really like the pre-grated stuff, it's tough and dry usually and doesn't taste anywhere near as nice. However, I found it on major special a while ago and it was one of the better brands so I snatched it up!

I had some nice sesame seed bread, so I toasted it, spread it with some marg and topped it liberally with grated parmesan. It was an indulgence, true, but how often do I get to eat parmesan? :)

Ah, sigh. Just looking at it again makes me want another slice... or five.

A Takeaway Tea - Munchies From Maccas

2011-04-14T12:02:00.000+10:00

Ahhh, as much as I love cooking, it's always nice to have a night off and let someone else do it. I love the Caesar wraps from McDonald's, almost as much as I love the salad itself.

I also got some chips (I'm a sucker for McDonald's chips) but forwent any drinks or dessert (it was already treat enough!). :)

The wrap was stuffed full of chicken-y goodness and I savoured every bite.

A Light Lunch: Sliced Pork with Salad and Crackers

2011-04-12T09:58:00.000+10:00

Yay, throw-together lunch! :) I didn't feel like a sandwich, I grabbed a couple of slices of deli pork, and added a little of this and a little of that.

There was a blob of pesto, some diced pickled onions and a couple of black olives...

Some cracked pepper water crackers to enjoy the pork and pesto on...

And some lettuce, grated cheese, button mushrooms and grated carrot. I love pesto, it made this meal so much more flavourful, it's a great staple to keep in the cupboard and mix into sauces, dips and dressings.

A Frugal Lunch, But Tasty Nonetheless!

2011-04-09T11:52:00.000+10:00

Ahh, the day before payday, what creative maneuvers will I need to pull to get lunch/dinner on the table? :)

A meal sadly lacking in a mix of colours, but still very yummy. There was some leftover lamb meatloaf from the night before, much easier to slice cold (and I think I may even prefer eating it that way!).

Meatloaf is such an economical meal, it makes it really easy to stretch meat with vegies and grains. I wanted potato salad but we didn't have any onions or ham or anything else I could put in it, so it ended up just being potatoes dressed with mayonnaise.

The only other veg we had left was good old carrot, so it was a carrot, cheese and yoghurt salad (which may be basic but I LOVE that carrot/cheese combo).

It took some thinking to get this meal together, but I actually really enjoyed it. I could go some more meatloaf right about now, I'll have to make it again soon. :)

Steak with Creamy Potato Bake

2011-04-07T13:46:00.000+10:00

Yes, this is the much-enjoyed potato bake of a couple of months ago, it made a comeback. :)

The steaks were sprinkled with pepper steak seasoning (a present from my best friend last Christmas) before being quickly fried on both sides.

The potato bake was ooey, gooey and creamy, everything you want in potato bake really!

I made it a little lighter than last time, adding low-fat milk and less mayonnaise (we ran out of aioli). A nice easy salad finished off the plate - homegrown lettuce, strips of carrot and grated cheese. Even if we're low on other vegies, I usually can throw something together. :)

Salad and Tuna with Oodles of Noodles

2011-04-05T11:34:00.000+10:00

It was a hot day, but I wanted something to sustain me for a busy afternoon, so this was the answer! I marinated the tuna briefly (for about 15 minutes) in light soy, sesame oil, honey and five spice powder.

Then I seared it until just barely cooked through, so it'd still be juicy and tender. I love having noodles with tuna, I think they're a great match, and if you have them cold or room temperature, they make the meal more suitable for summer.

I ran cold water over these noodles when they finished cooking, then tossed them with a little soy sauce and sesame oil. They soaked up the flavour immediately and stayed nice and separate.

I was a bit short on salad ingredients, but I feel odd having a meal without salad (unless it's something like a stew or spaghetti bolognese), so I shredded some lettuce, grated some carrot and mixed it with Greek yoghurt. It came out looking kind of like a coleslaw.

This was exactly what I needed (don't you love it when that happens?), and I went on with my afternoon in a splendid mood, fortified by tasty tuna and nice noodles.

Leftover KFC with a Homemade Salad

2011-04-02T11:26:00.000+10:00

This is a fairly old meal that I just found again, whoops! When we moved into our new place, last October, I had uni on some of the days during the packing and unpacking process. One afternoon during the unpacking I came home to find my partner had got himself KFC for lunch (:O), but happily there were leftovers. I'm not usually a huge fan of KFC (particularly their greasy chicken pieces, they usually make me feel a bit queasy), but I sure didn't feel like cooking!

The fact that, even during moving, you still have to do usual housework is one of the greatest injustices ever. Or maybe I'm being melodramatic. Anyway... happily, reheating the chicken in the oven made a fair bit of fat come out of it, which I drained off on paper towel.

It came out really crisp, and I was hungry, so it was wonderful. I also reheated some chips in the oven, to get some of the crunch back.

Finally, I added a very basic salad, of homegrown baby cos lettuce, carrot ribbons and grated cheese.

All in all, a welcome respite from the endless boxes and a tasty bit of sustenance to keep us working.

Homemade Pizza from Scratch

2011-03-31T10:15:00.000+10:00

I can't eat store-bought pizza, due to a gluten intolerance, but happily it's quite easy to make at home! I used the 'Basic Bread' recipe by Jamie Oliver, as per usual, and shaped it into two pizza bases after the first proving. Then I topped it with everything - well, not quite, but everything tasty I found in my fridge.

There's plenty of sauce ( I do love it saucy!), onion, garlic, sliced ham, button mushrooms, torn basil and grated cheddar cheese.

Into the oven with ye! It takes about 30 minutes at 180 degrees and voila!

You have yourself a delicious, aromatic, freshly made pizza right in your very own kitchen.

If you're wondering why I can eat homemade pizza (albeit not very often) and not store-bought, it's because when I make it at home I use plain (or all-purpose) flour, as opposed to bread-making flour. Bread-making flour has a higher amount of gluten in it, to help the bread rise and hold it's shape, plain flour has a lower amount of gluten so you can successfully make things like cakes and biscuits at home. So I can have a little plain flour now and again without it making me sick, but the high-fat, high-gluten pizzas you can buy make me regret it, in a very sincere and heartfelt way!

Yum, the bottom of the base was browned and crisp and the top was gooey with melted cheese - perfect.

Saucy Meatballs with Pearl Couscous

2011-03-28T11:06:00.000+10:00

I've had a packet of pearl couscous in my cupboard for months, and there it's stayed because I had no idea what to do with it.

Hey, Gabriel Gate looks happy, so it must be good, right? Well, anyhow, I decided that it needed something saucy to go with it, and we had some mince, so meatballs it was! As per usual, it was a pretty simple meatball mix - in this case pork mince, onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and some roughly chopped parsley from my balcony.

So easy and yet so tasty.

Wow, looking back that's a big serve, I must've been hungry. :) I served the meatballs with some pasta sauce I heated in a little saucepan.

Once I'd eaten the meatballs I stirred the sauce into the pearl couscous to flavour it.

I rounded out the meal with a salad of shredded lettuce, carrot ribbons, green capsicum, button mushrooms, a little cheese and a yoghurt dressing.

A (Delicious) Throw-Together Lunch

2011-03-26T11:06:00.000+10:00

I usually take lunch with me to uni but sometimes there isn't anything particularly portable in the house. I was starving by the time I was walking home though, so I stopped off for some potato wedges for lunch. There were rather a lot (they're always more filling than I expect), and I had some left over for the next day's lunch at home. :)

Not enough for a whole lunch by themselves though! I pawed through the fridge, pulling out tasty things and this is what I ended up with.

The wedges themselves of course, warmed up (there's something unappetising about cold potato)...

Some Greek yoghurt and sweet chilli sauce to dip them in...

A couple of slices of Hungarian mild salami...

And some green capsicum, grated cheese, sliced champignons and stuffed green olives, yum! I ate it by making combinations that I thought would be nice, having an olive with a bit of cheese, a bite of salami with some champignon.... I love lunches like this! :D

Homemade Yoghurt - Not So Hard

2011-03-21T14:51:00.000+10:00

Admittedly, my first forays into home yoghurt making involve Easiyo. :) Basically you just empty the sachet of milk powder and bacteria into the container, add water, then sit it inside a giant thermos-type thing half-filled with boiling water. 12 hours later - delicious yoghurt.

Plain yoghurt is the only kind I make for myself, but I really do prefer the thicker texture of Greek yoghurt. I used a natural yoghurt sachet, then strained it using the cloth you can see in the background. I left it for an hour, and it reduced it from about 1kg of natural yoghurt to about 600g of thick, Greek-style yoghurt.

You can see how thick it was from where I stuck the knife in. :) I like it to be spreadable, so I can use it on sandwiches and rice cakes. That's what I used my first batch for, smearing on some rice cakes before adding other toppings.

Those other toppings were tinned salmon, grated cheese and shreds of iceberg lettuce. :)

Ahh, a lovely contrast between flavours and textures, crunchy, creamy, salty, cool - exactly what a hot lunchtime called for.

A Rare Piece of Lamb (Not THAT Kind of Rare)

2011-03-19T13:43:00.000+10:00

Lamb has always been a relatively expensive choice, so it's not something we have all that often. Every once in a while, we'll have lamb mince, but for some reason it's quite scarce in our local supermarket at the moment.

These ones were bought marinated from our local butcher, covered with little flecks of minty green.

I just fried them in a bit of vegetable oil and drained them on kitchen towel While they were cooking, I made some mashed potato to go with them, and made a veeeery basic salad. Yeah, our crisper was empty. :)

It was just lettuce from the balcony garden and little cubes of cheddar cheese. Basic, but a tasty combination nonetheless.

My Favourite Treat - Rocky Road Icecream

2011-03-17T14:38:00.000+10:00

This is a treat we have at most a couple of times a year, usually for a special occasion or celebration. I've never had bought rocky road icecream that tastes as nice as this home-assembled version. I say home-assembled because I don't want you to think I'm quite enterprising enough to make the icecream from scratch as well. It's just too hard without an icecream machine. :)

Start with a fairly good quality vanilla icecream (or chocolate would be wonderful too), and stir in a packet of choc chips, half a packet of mini-marshmallows (the kind used for baking) and half a packet of jelly babies, cut into thirds (raspberries, snakes or chicos are also nice, depending on what you like). If you're especially flush with cash, you can also add some nuts.

I don't even need to tell you to enjoy, because trust me, there's no way you can eat this and NOT enjoy.

Simple Salmon Sandwich

2011-03-15T20:34:00.000+10:00

I did warn you I've been in a wordplay kind of mood. :)

I love grain bread, I can't understand how people can just eat white bread - don't you get bored? To me, it tastes of nothing, especially the kind of white bread you get at the supermarket. Something like sourdough or even just fresh bakery bread is much nicer.

I used a tin of smoked salmon, which is great because of the lovely flavour, but also because it doesn't have bones in it. I know the bones add calcium, but I've never been able to enjoy eating them. There's also some cheese, sliced button mushrooms and cos lettuce, and a little smear of wholegrain mustard. :) This felt very wholesome and yet was delicious!