Recipe | Chickpea, Spinach and Tomato Stew

Hi lovelies! Recently I have been loving watching Estee and Aslan's vlogs, especially Aslan's cooking series. This particular recipe was for a chickpea dish with a tomato sauce base. I thought it looked perfect for a drizzly day here in Australia so I decided to give it a shot. You can watch Aslan's video here. 

Recipe | Bircher Muesli

Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day; you could say it inspires me to get out of bed more than anything else. This being the case, I am always trying to make this first meal better and better. Recently inspired by a breakfast out with the girls, I thought I'd try my hand at a bircher muesli. Let me know if you try this or have any suggestions. 

Recipe | Freekeh Greek Salad

Recently, I had freekeh pointed out to me in the health food isle (thank you, Adrienne) and couldn't stop pondering what it was like. To be honest it wasn't the most excited food I've ever tried but grain alternatives are always nice to discover. It has a texture very similar that of a brown rice-quinoa hybrid. As usual, my salad recipes are super easy to interchange with your favourite ingredients. I was aiming for a slightly Greek inspired dish but feel free to make this dish vegetarian or vegan if you like by omitting the fish and cheese. 

Ingredients

1 cup freekeh

4 small tomatoes, diced

1/2 cucumber, diced

400g rocket

1 capsicum, diced

2tbsp olives, halves

400g tin tuna in spring water, broken up into chunks

200g feta cheese, broken up into chunks

1 lime, juiced

sea salt and cracked pepper

Cook the freekeh according the instructions on the packet. Mine involved cooking 1 cup of freekeh in 2 cups of water covered for about 25 minutes, until all of the water had been absorbed. 

Meanwhile, place tomatoes, cucumber, rocket and  capsicum in a large bowl and toss together. Follow with olives, tuna and feta cheese. Toss salad again.

Add cooked freekeh, lime and seasoning. Combine ingredients and serve. 

I actually didn't eat any of this at the time of making it and put it into containers for my weeks lunches. It keeps really well in the fridge for 4-5 days after making. 

Happy eating!

Erin xx

Recipe | Bacon, Leek & Feta Frittata

Hi lovelies! I have been all about quick and easy meals of late. I had some eggs that needed using up and so I knocked up a quick frittata which has been making for a super quick lunch or breakfast. 

Recipe | Spicy Pork Miso Soup with Vermicelli Noodles

Hey there soup lovers! I return this week with another of my favourite go-to soup concoctions. This is another that I have been opting towards to assist with my jaw tension issues and manage to make it last for lunches at work for most of the week.

Recipe | Classic Weekend Soup

If you couldn't tell by now, you will know soon enough, that Jess and I are big fans of soup. She recently posted a delectable looking Carrot and Turmeric soup and I'm here to post one of many more to come on the way into and through Winter. I've also been getting into soups more recently to help relax my jaw muscles which have been causing me some grief. This soup is a variation on one that my mum would cook most weekends whilst growing up from whatever was left in the fridge at the end of the week. Feel free to change the vegetables and meat used for whatever you have. 

Ingredients

1 clove of garlic, crushed

250g chorizo sausage, sliced

1/2 head cauliflower, broken up into smaller heads

1 head broccoli, broken up into smaller heads

handful green beans, cut in half

400g tin crushed tomatoes

1tbsp tomato paste

400g tin red kidney beans (or other legumes) 

3/4 cup brown rice and barley mix (any rice or rice sized carbohydrate will suffice)
2 cups vegetable stock (I use Vegeta)
quality olive oil
sea salt and cracked pepper
parmesan cheese, grated for serving (optional but delicious)

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over a low heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add in sliced chorizo and turn the heat up to medium. Once chorizo becomes golden add the cauliflower, beans and broccoli and cook for several minutes. 

Add the tin of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, vegetable stock and kidney beans and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Pour in the brown rice and barley mixture and cover until boiling. Remove the lid and let simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked. 

Serve and season with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. 

And thats it, stupidly simple. A delicious, healthy and hearty lunch for a chilled out weekend indoors - and it should last the whole weekend too depending on how many you're serving. 

Erin xx

Recipe | Broccoli & Bacon Salad

 Hi lovelies! Now I may not have mentioned it before on the blog, but I am a broccoli nut. I cannot get enough of the stuff and a favourite snack of mine is a whole bowl of steamed broccoli with oyster sauce. I wanted to spruce up my usual snack and turn it into more of a lunch time salad. To be honest you can't really go wrong when bacon and pesto are involved. 

Recipe | Capsicum Nachos

After a recent nachos gorge session I figured there must be a more healthy way to enjoy the Mexican cuisine classic. I've seen recipes around the internet using mini capsicums in a similar way but none using my favourite ingredients and truly utilising the capsicum as a corn chip replacement. I know that Jess' favourite food is capsicum so when she came over for a chilled out girls night I knew it was the time to try this recipe (she's also very handy in the kitchen). 

Serves 4 - 5

Ingredients

2 packets of miniature capsicums, halved and deseeded

3 tomatoes, diced

cucumber, diced

small red onion, diced

400g tin corn kernels 

1 green capsicum, diced

1 lemon, juiced

1 lime, juiced

400g tin Old El Paso Mexe-Beans

bottle of Old El Paso Think n Chunky Medium Salsa

sour cream

guacamole (1 ripe avocado, 1tbsp sour cream, salt and pepper smashed together)

2 cups tasty cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 200°C. 

On a baking tray lined with wax proof paper arrange the capsicum halves so that they're quite bunched together with the open side facing upwards. Place in oven for 10 minutes then remove. 

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, mix red onion, tomatoes, cucumber, corn, green capsicum, lemon and lime juice. 

Spoon Mexe-Beans and the Medium Salsa evenly on top of the partially cooked capsicums. Next, sprinkle over a thin later of cheese. Spoon the diced vegetable salsa on top. You may end up with excess salsa; this can be stored in the fridge for use at a later date. Cover your nachos with the remaining cheese and place in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and starting to become golden.

Once cooked, serve with sour cream and guacamole.  

Enjoy your healthier nachos!
Erin xx

Recipe | Carrot and Turmeric Soup

Hi lovelies! I am in love with soup at the moment and have been loving experimenting in the kitchen. This recipe is courtesy of the lovely Madeleine Shaw and it's made for a delicious lunch the past couple of weeks. You can find the original recipe here.

Recipe | Weekday Pasta

 Hi lovelies! I haven't talked about it much on the blog, but I have a very active job. What with running up and down stairs and long shifts I've been finding I need quite a bit of fuel to get me through the day. I've been experimenting with pasta recipes that are quick to make on a weeknight and then take the leftovers to work the next day.