As you can see I was in a piggy mood so added some pasta to the dish (brown rice pasta actually, so not too bad in the overall scheme of things), however I did devour this dish very quickly as it was sooo good - yep, just like a little piggy!
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If you're looking for a quick and simple mid-week meal without all the bells and whistles, but lots of fresh flavour, then you should really take a look at The Stone Soup Website (here). I'm loving the pure simplicity of it (no brain cells need to be used at all!), as Jules has given me 10 ingredients to make 5 meals!
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After the last few weeks I've had, I have no desire to cook, let alone any inspiration to want to get back into the kitchen, except to make a cup of tea. However, a quick look on The Stone Soup website has sparked a little interest ...... I'm so pleased that I cleaned out one of my cupboards one day which lead to discovering a lost cookbook, which then lead to re-discovering The Stone Soup blog.
"10 Ingredient Shopping List" - that sounds about my pace right at this moment.
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It's no secret that I LOVE butter, however growing up in the society that we do where eating butter is frowned upon and anything labeled "low fat" is the holy grail, I have, over time, converted to this way of thinking unfortunately. Deep down inside though, I know this isn't correct and I find myself gravitating to any information/facts that prove this feeling. Once such piece of information I read recently was on The Stone Soup blog where she talks about a book she recently read called "Real Food" by Nina Planck’s - a journey to finding a balance between enjoying food and being happy with her waistline.
As hard as it is to change years of habit, I am going to try one step at a time to embrace, and more importantly, accept Plank's simple guidelines of:
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I call this a vegetarian dish, as I cannot believe that there would be any real chicken in a packet of 2 minute noodles. I may be mistaken, but somehow, I don't think so!
This recipe (do 4 ingredients make a recipe?) comes from the free Stone Soup eCookbook I mentioned in a past post that I recently found when clearing out my cupboards. A cookbook filled with quick and simple recipes of only 5 ingredients. There is nothing remotely fancy or hard about this recipe, yet it still somehow manages to be comforting, especially on these cold days.
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While I'll be travelling through France later in the year, my brother and his family are planning to move into my place (as they'll be in the middle of renovations of their own home at the time), so I've been slowly going through cupboards/draws, clearing space and throwing away any crap I've accumulated over time. I'm definitely NOT a hoarder - if it doesn't have a place to live in my home then it's out. However, I'm amazed at the junk I've still managed to keep. Things I'd forgotten I had.
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Burgundy isn't a region we're planning to explore on our trip to France later this year. As a number of my favourite dishes come from the region, including Coq au Vin, it's definitely a place a plan to go back to one day.
Another reason I'd like to go back would be to go to a cooking class at The Cooks Atelier. An amazing looking school where you head off to the market in the morning then cook the afternoon away. I had originally thought I'd just pop down there from Paris to attend the school, but with the amount of things I want to do in Paris - I'll think I'll have to leave it for now. Oh well, there's always next time.
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I'm now in the second week of my 8 Week Challenge, and look what I made.
Little Lime Puddings
Whoops..........
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I'm a big fan of the humble soup, but I have to confess that pumpkin soup is probably not my favourite. I went through a stage in my late twenties where I ate a truck load of pumpkin soup and it actually had a big effect on me. It took me quite a few years to start making it again, and in fact, I think this is the first time I've made it for almost a year.
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I'm not a baker.
I've never claimed to be great at baking but I absolutely love it. I love the whole process from beginning to end. I love that measurements need to be exact. I love creaming butter and sugar together and creating a light, fluffy batter. And above all, I love the smell a cake makes when it's cooking in my oven.
So when a cake comes out looking exactly how it should, even better than I expected, and tastes just as good as it looks - well, I'm one very happy girl. Very happy!
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I'm getting excited about exploring Normandy. It was never part of my original plans to go there and in fact, when I think back I don't think I'd have ever planned to go there ever. I'm not sure why that is, but I just found other areas of France more appealing to me. Well, thank God all that's changed thanks in large part to reading two particular cookbooks by Jane Webster - My French Table and Family Ties. I know I've raved on about these books in the past on this little blog of mine, but the stories and pictures make me feel as though I'm already there. I can smell the country air and taste all of that delicious food.
So, of course, it wasn't long before I NEEDED to make something else from one of these cookbooks, and the winning recipe for the day was.......
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Sending apologies once again - getting to be a bit of habit isn't it?!
I posted about a great cake I made back in January when I went on a "Plonkers Excursion" around various wineries down Mornington Peninsula way. Such a brilliant day!
Anyway, the cake I made for our picnic lunch was a very special Rhubarb and Sour Cream Cake (recipe from Seasonal Kitchen by Marie Claire), and the perfect cake for a picnic. Being quite a dense cake, it held up travelling in the back of a bus with a bunch of very happy and loud (alright, maybe a bit tipsy) people.
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