Recipe

One winter, I was craving an apple crumble for dessert. Unfortunately, we were out of apples. But there were plenty of bananas. So I tried my hand at making up a crumble from scratch with the ingredients I had on hand. The result was a warm and comforting winter dessert with a contrast of textures between the soft, caramelized bananas and the crispy, crumble mixture. It's such an easy recipe that makes a lovely dessert from a few ingredients you likely have in your pantry. I was on a health and fitness kick in 2014, which is roughly when I [...]

I have spent most of June and July using up all the items we had in the fridge, freezer and pantry since we started using the cash envelope system. We have used up a lot of items with the help of Pinterest and Google. But one item had me stumped. Condensed Milk. I knew that I could make fudge using the condensed milk but that felt a little too boring. Once again I found myself browsing recipes on Pinterest and I came across homemade ice cream.  All of the recipes seemed easy enough, using minimal ingredients. And it didn't take [...]

I love shortbread, even better when it’s homemade. I love that some are slightly different shapes. Some are different colours. And more often than not, the thickness really varies. Since discovering this ginger shortbread recipe, I have made it so many times and it’s always a massive hit. This is one of my favourite cookie recipes, as it combines shortbread and gingerbread. Both are traditional Christmas treats in my house. They are perfect to give out as a holiday cookie, I just wrap a few in some cellophane with a ribbon. And one batch makes around 50 pieces, so there’s [...]

Ordering a pumpkin spice latte might have you stereotyped as basic in America. But the Australian fixation makes you cultured and gives the impression of a well-travelled individual. But if you’ve never tried a pumpkin spice latte in Australia, do not fret. I have a number of solutions to make sure your first experience will not be your last. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to be in North America during November. While there I sampled many, many Pumpkin Spice Lattes. And it got me thinking about how I could recreate the pumpkin spice flavour back home.  What [...]

We all know that the first pancake you make is always a test pancake. It’s usually overcooked or even a little bit burnt. But there are a few secrets to cooking pretty perfect pancakes. The temperature The temperature the pancakes are cooked at plays a large part. I like to start with a hot pan, add some butter, then turn down the heat. The best time to flip your pancakes is after the bubbles have stopped forming and the edges have turned matte. The size I like to make my pancakes roughly the size of a bread plate. This makes [...]

Finding appropriate toddler foods can be difficult so I'm sharing my favourite toddler friendly zucchini recipes. I’ve been so lucky that my daughter seems to like everything we have given her. There have been a few things that she doesn’t appear to like, but I’ve noticed it comes down to the texture. There have also been a few cases of things not agreeing with her little tummy. But she seems to have grown out of most of those. It doesn’t take long before your toddler wants to feed them self so having bite-size food is a must. Zucchini slice was one of [...]

I bought a giant tub of multi-purpose cake mix for my daughter's first birthday last year. I made about three dozen frosted cupcakes for the party. But after that, I put it at the top of my pantry and forgot about it. It's getting close to the use-by date and I feel that I need to use it up. The giant tub makes about 12 full-sized cakes or about 144 cupcakes. I should get another three cakes or three dozen cupcakes from it. There are so many simple ways to improve box cake mixes. From adding extra eggs, swapping oil [...]

Here is my quest for homemade lemonade. My family likes to catch up before Christmas because everyone is so busy & there are so many people to see. Each year we take it in turns to host & everyone brings something to pitch in. We usually just have a BBQ, which makes it pretty stress-free. This year I volunteered to bring some meat, hamburgers & sausages. From the window, I could see many large lemons hanging over the fence. So I asked my cousin If I could take a few home with me. She offered a bag for me to [...]

We often have an excess of fruit at work from the weekly delivery. At the end of the week, we are encouraged to take home any fruit that is still in the fruit basket. The common leftovers are mandarin, apple, pear, orange with the occasional banana. It really depends on what fruits are in season as to how many that we get, also determining what's leftover. I love having a variety of fruit to choose from. It means I don't have to worry about remembering to bring snacks to work. Because of this, I often eat 2-3 pieces of fruit [...]

Dinner for two doesn't have to be extravagant. This great quick meal when there isn't much food in the pantry. These pasta side dishes are great to have on hand for when you really don't feel like spending much time in the kitchen. One packet generally serves four people as a side dish but also make a great dinner for two when you add a few extras. This time I added one chopped carrot, roughly 1/4 cup of peas and one small tin of tuna. The idea of adding the extra items is to make more of a nutritionally balanced meal, [...]

Breakfast is my absolute favourite meal of the day, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I will eat breakfast before I leave the house. I choose toast or cereal most days, but sometimes I like to switch it up. Porridge or pancakes are great for days when I have a bit more time. But when I started working out, I discovered the beauty of eating a high-protein breakfast to give me the energy to start my day. I generally have all of the ingredients on hand, so it's often an easy choice. This high-protein breakfast mug cake is [...]

One of the main reasons you would make a smoothie bowl is to take numerous photos for your various social media accounts. I’m honestly not a fan of having a smoothie in a bowl. I find it really difficult to eat. Or is it drink? Either way, I have decided that I like to drink my smoothies from a glass. The first thing you need to make a delicious smoothie bowl is a great smoothie recipe. One that uses frozen fruit works really well. I always have blueberries or raspberries in the freezer and they are perfect for this. Not [...]

I have read so many great things about Quest bars but have never actually seen them at the shops. So when I finally saw them I knew I had to get a box, or two! According to the internet, you can eat a quest bar in many different ways. And it appears making them into Quest bar cookies is the way to go. So I was craving something sweet but wanted it to still be better for me than a mug cake. A bit of googling later, I decided to make Quest bar cookies. I also researched some hashtags on [...]

Dip always makes a great snack. And, for those that have a bit of a sweet tooth like me, this protein fruit dip is a protein-packed afternoon treat. You can eat this straight from the bowl with a spoon, add fruit to the bowl, or use it as a dip with fruit. You can even cover fruit in the dip and freeze it for a cool treat. I find chocolate or strawberry protein powder works best. But vanilla is my absolute favourite for this recipe. I haven't had the chance to test it with any other flavours. But I'm sure [...]