"You've been walking in circles, searching. Don't drink by the water's edge. Throw yourself in. Become the water. Only then will your thirst end." -Jeanette Berson
Friday, July 4, 2014
Tasty Thursday - Enchiladas
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Tasty Thursday - Easy to prepare
Garlic Baked Potatoes
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tasty Thursday - Crumbed Schnitzels and Creamed Spinach and Feta Sauce
But it can and it is. This recipe debunks two of the greatest misconceptions of following a diet plan.
Misconception 1 - Following a diet plan makes food tasteless
Misconception 2 - Diet plans are time consuming. It is impossible to whip up a quick tasty meal that still exists within the parameters of the plan.
To the first, I challenge you to try this out and let me know just how "tasteless" it is. And to the second, well, this particular meal took me under 30 mins from deciding what to eat to sitting down and eating it. If that isn't "fast food", I don't know what is.
This recipe balances high protein soy against vitamin rich spinach to produce a healthy low fat meal. And if you want dessert, how about a scoop of Huberto's sugar free ice cream or some delicious Vegan Mousse (recipe next week)?
Crumbed Schnitzels and Creamed Spinach and Feta Sauce
2 Fry's Vegetarian Golden Crumbed Schnitzel
1 Sachet McCains Creamed Spinach and Feta
1 teaspoon crushed ginger and garlic
1 teaspoon crushed chillies
1/4 cup low fat milk
Low fat Margerine
Salt to taste
Heat a non-stick frying pan
Remove frozen Schnitzel from packaging and very lightly smear with margerine on each side
When pan is hot, place schnitzel on pan and cook on both sides
Place cooked schnitzel on plate
While schnitzel is cooking, defrost the spinach mix
Decant into saucepan with milk, ginger-garlic, chillies and salt
Allow to heat through and cook until desired consistency is reached
Ladle sauce over schnitzel and serve.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Tasty Thursday - Baby Garden Pasta
In this case, I just couldn't go to the baby shower. The thought of seeing all those baby clothes and all the excitement and happiness made me feel extremely anxious and I ended up not going. Part of the problem was that the lady in question was due in the first week in December and that was when my second lost baby would been born. It was good that I didn't have another big emotional storm, but I was still extremely uncomfortable.
****************TMI AHEAD*******************
The good news is I think I O'd this week. And hubby and I have been trying to BD regularly (after a long dry spell). I think we might have timed it correctly, so now its a question of whether I O'd on the correct side where my tube is still intact. I don't have confirmation of O yet, I'll probably only get that by Monday, but I feel like I O'd. My temps for the last 5 days have been 36.2, 36.2, 36.2, 36.3, 36.4 .. If it continues to go up then I will know that I have O'd. And then will be time for the 2WW during which I will be anxiously biting my nails until either AF comes or I have a confirmed pregnancy. And then the real worry begins.. LOL.. who wants to be me??
*********************END OF TMI*******************
This garden pasta is quick, easy and good for stress since it has lots of wonderful green veggies. Excellent for the health conscious or TTC'ing mommies :) Credit goes to our very own T'alicious for this wonderful recipe.
Baby Garden Pasta
Baby marrow
Baby corn
Sugar Snap peas (Mange Tout)
Tri-colour pasta
1 mini can of tomato paste
1 can Italian tomatoes - (Pomo D'Oro)
garlic, chilli
salt to taste
Boil Pasta in salted water until al dente
Slice veggies diagonally (very important to the flavour) and pan fry in a little Olive oil and salt
When veggies caramelise, add about 2 tablespoons of water to the mixture to keep all that smoky sweet flavour.
Cook tomatoes with garlic, chilli and salt
Mix vegetables into pasta
Add tomato
Serve with a tablespoon of sour cream on the side.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tasty Thursday - Juice
But I know what you're thinking. Ugh, vegetables. How am I going to manage to eat that much fruit and vegetables? And the easy and tasty answer is "Don't eat it. Drink it!" If you prepare fresh juices and do not add any extra sugar or preservatives, it is as healthy as actually eating the fruit and vegetables.
Here are a few of my favourite juice recipes that are healthy an delicious. You never have to add any sugar since they are super sweet. Drink a cup or two of juice with your meals and you will not only eat less (it is filling!) but gain in the massive amount of nutrients. And if your body is getting more nutrients and you are eating less unhealthy food, a wonderful side effect is that you lose weight! The extra fibre will also keep your body working well and have you feeling great :)
Tropical Mix
1/4 pineapple
2 yellow apples
1 orange
1 banana
1 mango
a handful of strawberries
Zesty Carrot
4 carrots
2 green apples
1 thumb sized piece of ginger
Mixed Fruit
1/4 pineapple
2 apples
2 orange
1 guava
2 kiwi
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Tasty Thursday - Honey Lemon Frosted Cupcakes
What I find interesting however, is that the day I decide to post a recipe about cupcakes, I come across this article in the U.K Version of The Guardian. It was published about two years ago, but I believe it is still relevent today. The title is "Do good feminists bake cupcakes?". In the article, the views of a few 20-something women who have taken to the domestic arts are juxtaposed against the views of modern day feminists. The discussion basically comes down to the following 2 arguments.
"... what makes this modern domesticity very different to the old-fashioned kind is that it is done out of choice, not out of duty or an attempt to impress men ... "
"... There are problems associated with domesticity because, in the past, there was the assumption that it was just 'what women did'..."
The core of feminism to me, is the ability to choose what is right for you and not be dependant on anyone else to make your decisions for you. I am a working woman, a wife and hopefully one day a mother. My husband is a working man, a husband and hopefully one day a father. We both share equally in the responsibilities of owning a home and living together. We are both breadwinners in our family, we share food preparation duties and we look after our doggies toegther. If feminism is about equality, then I am a feminist and so is my husband. But if I choose to bake and cook and knit (yes, I went through phase where I knitted myself some lovely scarves), and if that makes me happy, that doesnt change anything. Choosing domestic arts does not automatically make a woman not a feminist just like a man choosing woodwork and vintage cars does not make him a chauvenist.
So bake cupcakes if that takes your fancy. You dont need to be a 1950's housewife to do so :)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tasty Thursday - Sweetcorn Filled Gems
This weeks Tasty Thursday is a favourite in our house because of its simplicity and how easy it is to make. Its delicious, doesn't require much cooking skill and it is pretty easy on the tummy. Usually after a week of heavy, rich or spicy foods, hubby and I are looking for something that will soothe our tummies and give it a chance to settle.
Ingredients
Friday, September 10, 2010
Tasty Thursday - Picnic Fare - Potato Salad
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Tasty Thursday - Picnic Fare - Baked Bean Salad
What I love about picnic food, is that it is so versatile. The baked bean salad listed below can also be spread on a pizza base or even just a slice of bread topped with some cheese and oregano and baked for a quick delicious pizza. Grill some Italian or French bread rounds brushed with garlic and olive oil, top with the baked beans salad and a sprinkling of fresh herbs and you have some tasty (and classy) bruschetta to serve at brunch. Spread a cracker with low fat cream cheese, drop of dollop of this mixture on top and you have a quick, healthy snack. Or you could serve it as an accompaniment or side dish when braaing (barbecuing). You could even use it as a type of relish inside a burger or hotdog. I could go on and on. Go crazy and let your creative juices flow to come up with other exciting ways to use this versatile salad.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tasty Thursday - Chocolate Orange cake

We had a little surprise party for my Dads 60th birthday (early because their gift is a holiday in Cape Town for the week of their birthdays) and the cake was an absolute hit :)

So without further ado ... the recipe :
Cake Ingredients
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup orange juice
½ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon orange zest
For the cake :
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
In a separate bowl, whisk together orange juice, canola oil, vanilla, and orange zest.
Mix wet and dry ingredients
Divide batter between 2 greased non-stick 20cm cake tins
Bake for approx 30-45 mins until toothpick comes out clean
For the buttercream
4 cups powdered sugar
½ cup melted butter at room temperature (i would adjust this to ¾ cup)
1 tablespoon orange zest
¼ cup orange juice
Beat powdered sugar, butter and orange zest together slowly adding in orange juice until the desired consistency is reached.
For the Fondant :
Follow the instructions here and leave to rest overnight.
Assembly :
When the cake is completely cold, smother the top of one with buttercream and place the other on top. Cover the top and sides with more buttercream.
Melt the fondant in a saucepan until it reaches pouring consistency
Pour fondant over cake ensuring that it is evenly spread on the top and slides down the sides in dribbles.
Colour leftover buttercream with food colouring and decorate.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Tasty Thursday - Vegetarian Omelette (No eggs)

Vegetable omelette
1 cup gram flour (chickpea flour)
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup grated cheese
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbs margerine/butter
1 cup milk
approx 1 cup water
1 tsp each crushed ginger, garlic, chillies
1/2 tsp salt + pepper
dried mixed herbs
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves and stems
1/4 cup spring onion
choice of filling - chopped :(choose at least 3)
1 onion, 1 tomato, 1 green/red/yellow pepper, soya hotdogs, jelapeno peppers, whatever u feel like adding
Method :
Microwave butter and milk until melted
mix in rest of the ingredients
add in water until dough is slightly runny

Heat non-stick skillet on medium heat
Pour a ladleful of batter onto skillet

Allow to cook until top is mostly formed and underneath is cooked (it should be a golden brown or slightly darker if you prefer)
Flip omelette over to allow other side to cook and brown


Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tasty Thursday - Strawberry Jam
And another was that I probably should have let it boil abit longer since I wasn't using pectin. It was a little more syrupy than I wanted.
But the end result was still delicious and even though it probably wont last as long, I think it will be eaten long before it has a chance to go bad. I used no extra colourants and the photos aren't photoshopped.
The end result was quite pretty in fact :) And tastes divine!
Strawberry Jam Recipe
1 cup strawberries
(ranging from slightly overripe to slightly underripe)
1 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup lemon juice
Roughly chop up strawberries to uneven sizes and shapes leaning toward larger pieces
Using a whisk mash up the strawberries so that they're kinda mushy but still have large chunks visible
Place in a heavy bottomed pot making sure to scrape in every drop of juice, and turn the on stove to medium-low heat
Measure out the one cup sugar into the pot
Using the whisk, stir the mixture
Measure out the lemon juice and use it to rinse out the bowl used for the strawberries to get all the juice
Pour this mixture into the pot and stir until all the sugar has dissolved
Turn heat on high and bring to a boil stirring occassionally to ensure the jam doesnt burn
I did this for about 10-15 minutes (Next Time I will extend this to 30-45 mins)
Remove from heat and scrape off the foam that has formed on the top
Wash a glass jam jar and sterilise with boiling water
Empty jam into the jar until there is about an inch or so of space at the top
Seal and process if keeping for storage (boil in a large pot of water).
Since I only made the one jar, I did not do this last step. I sealed it, poured some boiling water over, allowed to cool and then placed in the fridge.The little left over there was (the jar I chose was just slightly not big enough), we ate on toast this morning for breakfast :)





