Vietnamese-Style Pork Sandwich

Do you enjoy banh mi, Vietnamese Pork Rolls? This street food is one of my favourite choices for lunch.

However, with a family history of diabetes, I need to be careful with the carbohydrates and sugars in my diet.

Winemaker's Platter

A simple meal for a hot day!

These last weeks in Sydney have been hot and humid. Scorching days and muggy nights leave me feeling so drained that cooking dinner at the end of the day is the last thing I want to do!

Away from home - Orange

It had been two years since we last had a long break so we decided to take some time out in Orange, 3½ hours drive from Sydney.

Orange has been described as the “food bowl of New South Wales” and, when I started looking for accommodation, I discovered that the Orange F.O.O.D (Food of Orange District) Festival ended a couple of days before we arrived.

With the festival, school holidays and Easter long weekend, finding accommodation with a full kitchen was difficult. The apartment that I booked had a kitchenette with, according to the website, only a microwave for cooking.

I mainly use my microwave for warming frozen meals, so cooking with a microwave was going to be a challenge!

Away from home - Melbourne in 2015

This is a long overdue post about some of the meals we prepared and some of the restaurants and cafés we visited when we were in Melbourne earlier this year.

Sushi Salad

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.

Away from Home - Townsville

I'm slowly catching up on posts related to our holiday back in April. (Four months ago ... that's a lifetime in our fast-paced world!)

Following the format of my Away from home posts, this post describes our grocery list, the meals we prepared and some of the restaurants and cafés we visited.

Away from Home - The Hunter Valley Again!

During our last trip to the Hunter Valley I discovered that Sting and Paul Simon were performing at the Hope Estate Winery on Valentine's Day. Hubby and I couldn't think of a better reason to return to the Hunter.

Away from home - Hunter Valley

From my Instagram feed it would seem I spend more time eating out than cooking, but what the feed reflects is a regularity and sameness to what we eat. I work 2-3 nights a week so we fall back on quick and easy meals like noodles, tacos or Turkish pide, dips and tabouli; do takeaway or dine at a local restaurant a couple of nights, which basically leaves the weekend for trying anything new that I might photograph.

So, when Hubby and I manage to get away, we relish a chance to try different dishes and I end up posting about a couple of weeks worth of photos in a couple of days.

Away from home - Adelaide

Hubby and I seem to be slowly ticking off state capitals when we take our annual leave. This time we flew to Adelaide, South Australia. We last visited Adelaide about 10 years ago. Back then we stayed at Glenelg, a beachside suburb, about a 30-minute tram trip from the CBD. This time we stayed in an apartment in the CBD.

Similar to past Away from home posts, this post describes our grocery list for the week, the meals we prepared and some of the restaurants and cafés we visited.

Pumpkin, Spinach and Mushroom Frittata

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. 😉

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.

Away from Home - Brisbane

Another trip, another city. This time we visited Brisbane, staying in an apartment in the CBD. This post describes our grocery list for the week, the meals we prepared and some of the restaurants and cafés we visited.

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.

Quick Congee

Quick and easy to make! Warm and fulfilling on a cold night.

Hubby was away on business so I took the opportunity to cook a childhood favourite, quick congee, or as we called it, quick juk. As kids we preferred the quick juk to the ‘real’ juk, which had amongst its ingredients dried bean curd, water chestnuts and red dates. I still prefer the quick juk. It's a versatile dish—I will cook it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

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.

Chinese Lamb Soup

Can you tell that it's unusually cold in Sydney at the moment? This is my fourth soup recipe in three months!

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.