A gluten-free and dairy-free Christmas pudding!
I make a couple of Christmas puddings each year and wanted to try something different from the fruit pudding I normally make. One my friends made an almond and orange cake so I searched the web and adapted a couple of recipes to create a Christmas Almond and Orange Pudding. It's taken a couple of years but I think the recipe is finally ready to share!
Many of the recipes for buttercream icing (or buttercream frosting) use icing sugar, an ingredient I don't tend to keep in my pantry. So I was pleased when I came across this allrecipes Creamy Frosting Recipe that used white sugar.
Milestone celebrations call for something special! Hubby's Brother asked me to cook a Christmas pudding for their mother's 90th birthday celebration. With 20 guests I needed to double the quantity of the ingredients and, because we weren't having a cake, I decided to turn the pudding into a cake.
Perfect family dinner for those cold Winter nights!
Hubby and I really enjoy our Sunday roasts if we have the time to prepare and cook. This roast chicken is probably the easiest and quickest of the roasts we enjoy, and there's always leftovers for another night. I throw all the vegetables into the roasting pan throughout and serve everything in the one pan.
Note: I use a Dutch oven on the stove top to cook my roast so the times and temperatures for the oven are based on the information provided in my cook books.
Lately we have had leftovers from our weekly takeaway sushi. Inspired by reality TV cooking shows and the sushi salmon salads I enjoyed while working in North Sydney, I created a ‘sushi salad’ that I serve with our dinner the following night.
Lately I have been very lazy when it comes to preparing our Turkish Feast. Working in the evening means little time for cooking so I had been buying a ‘four-pack’ of skinny dips.
Those four-packs no longer seem to be stocked in the supermarkets and buying individual packs has proved to be expensive and a waste of food because even small tubs are too much for just two of us. So I have started to make our own dips and hummus is a staple for our Turkish-inspired dinners.
I love oysters and always prepare them for special occasions and holidays. This is probably my favourite dressing and it's so quick and easy to prepare.
Perfect for a hot, sunny Christmas day!
Years ago I cut out a recipe from the daily newspaper for a Christmas ice cream pudding that came from Iain "Huey" Hewitson's book Huey's Greatest Hits. Over the years I've modified the recipe to suit the tastes and dietary restrictions of my family. Even Huey has changed his recipe—the original recipe has double the quantities in his current ice cream pudding recipe.
A nice, light pasta dish for warmer weather.
The original recipe did not contain prawns so for a vegetarian dish, eliminate the prawns.
This laksa is surprisingly quick to make. Replace the coconut milk with skim evaporated milk and coconut essence for a lower-fat version.
Great for picnics or as a snack or light meal!
Although the Impossible Quiche is similar to a frittata, this year was the first time I tried a ‘true’ frittata and I loved it. Of course I've tinkered with the recipe to lower the salt and fat content where I can. 😉
Perfect for an afternoon snack. 
This delicious moist banana bread is based on a vegan recipe, which I found when searching for a recipe to cater for my nephew's allergies. As a bonus it is low fat, although having a slice spread with butter probably negates that fact!
Nowadays I tend to use a lot of vegetable stock instead of chicken or beef stock. But sometimes, a chicken stock is nice.
There are tons of recipes out there for low-fat chips and most use the oven, a standard technique for those of us who are counting calories.
I love working with turkey mince—the meat is so light and is complemented by many different seasonings. We serve the turkey patties accompanied with salad and chips, or use them in turkey burgers. This post describes three types of seasonings that I characterise as French-, Italian- and Thai-style seasonings. The ‘French’-style patties are similar to the turkey patties I made in Melbourne.
When travelling on business a late night arrival means room service or something like noodles where you just add water.
If lucky, we'll try and book an apartment with kitchen facilities but arriving late, we want something quick and light. These noodles are just the ticket, and we even do this when we want a quick meal at home.
Oysters are a special treat for Hubby and me—we order oysters whenever they appear on a restaurant menu and I will prepare them for special occasions. Oysters Kilpatrick is an old favourite.
Hubby is not a big fan of mayonnaise, a common ingredient in potato salad and one that can make the salad fattening. This is a lighter version without the mayonnaise.
Sunday breakfast is special in our house even for the dogs! It's a break from the weekday routine of cereal or toast (and the tin and dry dog food). Most Sundays I'll cook a big breakfast of poached eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms and baked beans on toast, and maybe some rindless bacon or salt-reduced ham. If I break a yolk when cracking an egg, the egg becomes part of the dogs' Sunday omelette.
