Tomato, Chilli and Ginger Damper

Winter time and my thoughts turn to soups and breads.

Mustard and White Wine Vinegar Dressing for Oysters

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.

Lime and Chilli Spaghetti

A nice, light pasta dish for warmer weather.

The original recipe did not contain prawns so for a vegetarian dish, eliminate the prawns.

Low Fat Christmas Pudding

A lovely moist pudding that is lower in fat than our traditional family pudding.

Banana and Blueberry Bread

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!

Chicken Stock

Nowadays I tend to use a lot of vegetable stock instead of chicken or beef stock. But sometimes, a chicken stock is nice.

Low-Fat Chips

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.

Pumpkin Soup with Chilli and Ginger

Another variation on pumpkin soup!

Winter is here so I'm looking for soup recipes that are quick and easy to make. Pumpkin soup is obviously a favourite of ours and this version is not thick like the basic pumpkin soup or creamy like the pumpkin soup with chilli. I used less pumpkin to make a lighter soup—lighter in taste, texture and calories—yet still deliver a soup with a bit of a kick to warm the insides.

No Mayo Potato Salad

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.

Chilli and Lime Chicken Salad

Perfect for dinner on a hot summer night or as a late-night supper for those returning from an interstate trip!

I'm not sure which magazine I took this recipe from but it seems to be the same as the Chilli and Lime Chicken Salad recipe on the Australian Women's Weekly site. I changed the recipe to cater for Hubby's low sodium diet.

Creamy Tomato Soup

The Winter Solistice—it's cold, it's dark, it's time for soup! A creamy, spicy tomato soup entrances the senses and warms the body.

Away from Home - Melbourne

Being away from home can be a challenge, especially if you are watching your diet. Eating out every day for every meal can be a strain on both the wallet and the waistline. Recently, Hubby and I spent two weeks in Melbourne. This post describes the meals we prepared in our ‘foreign’ kitchen: our ingredients and our meals. It also describes some of the restaurants we visited.

Pumpkin Soup with Chilli

With two and a half butternut pumpkins, unseasonally bitter, cold weather and a body threatening to succumb to a cold, I've been scouring the Internet for pumpkin soup that includes warming herbs such as chilli and garlic.

‘Indian’ Vegetable Soup

Sometimes experiments can turn out to be the most delicious dishes.

I was looking for an Indian soup (if one existed) to accompany a curry. Inspired by the Winter Vegetable & Tofu Korma soup recipe at 101 Cookbooks, I adapted the Ten Mothers Garlic Soup to create this delicious vegetable soup.

Pumpkin Soup

Autumn has arrived, the days are getting cooler, and our thoughts are turning to more comforting fare. Butternut pumpkin (a.k.a butternut squash) is in season so pumpkin soup is on the menu. I love to make a batch then freeze portions for those nights when Hubby and I both come home late from work.

Salmon Nicoise

We tried a salmon niçoise at the Sydney Food & Wine Festival and loved it so much that it is now a staple dish in our diet.

Marinade for Kangaroo

Kangaroo is one of the leanest of red meats. However, it does tend to dry out when cooked. Information on cooking kangaroo and more recipes are available from the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia Web site.

Lemon-Honey Marinade for Chicken

I think of this as a Summer recipe—the perfect accompaniment to cold salads.

Greek-Style Salad

My brother tells me that this is not a true Greek salad, hence the Greek-style in the name. As he's visited Greece and sampled the food there, I guess he would know.

Ten Mothers Garlic Soup

There is a folk saying that “Garlic is as good as ten mothers”.

This recipe is adapted from a care2 recipe and what I can remember of a recipe that was published in Yoga Journal for an article on healing soups. Hubby and I used this soup all through Winter to fight off colds and flus.