It’s no secret that food is one of my reasons for living, as is evidenced by my constant physical appearance of being ‘big boned’. Growing up, my mother was what I perceived to be a ‘health freak’, which was a bit of a big statement. I only really thought this because my friends at school could have roll-ups, chips and canteen money for their food, while I was eating cut up fruit, multi-grain sandwiches and MAYBE a juice!
Alas, as the years have flown by (and after some dietician appointments, which I HIGHLY recommend to anyone as food is mega interesting), I have grown to love the way that I was raised in terms of the food that surrounded me. I rarely crave food like chips, McDonalds etc, and when I do eat it, I don’t feel great (unless it’s a Macca’s hash brown…).
Another part of this growing-up-food-evolution-process has been my love for cooking, which I originally also disliked; the big takeaway from today is thanking my Mother for encouraging me to do things I disliked until I liked them… she always knew.
My time in the kitchen now is something I thoroughly enjoy, primarily the subconscious aspect of concentrating almost solely on the food, flavour, heat, etc. It is one of the only things that clears my mind, the others being exercise and sleeping.
Now by no means am I a health guru, or a chef (or even an excellent cook), but I am growing more in love with cooking for people, especially sweets or main meals. Therefore (I’ve finally gotten to this part), I wanted to share some of the recipes that I’ve been using for the past few months to make sweets and hearty food for my family, something I’ll miss very much when I move to Spain next year.
Uno: CHEWY ANZAC BIKKIES (with some sneaky chocolate chips…)
ANZAC bikkies are a strong Aussie staple, with the inspiration behind them being Australian soldiers that fought in the World Wars. If you’ve never tried one, these are a super simple version to make, and I don’t doubt that you’ll love them!
I don’t have a picture of these ones, mostly because they get eaten SO quickly. I love the idea of using oats in cooking sweets, as they’re digested slowly thus making you feel full for longer. As well as this, they’re fantastic for your gut, hence why your Granny always insists on eating porridge in the morning.
Just imagine these … WITH CHOCOLATE!
This recipe is pretty simple to follow using ingredients you should (maybe) have. I usually add some chocolate chips after combining the butter mixture with the other ingredients. Click the link if you want to see more!
Dos: PAVLOVA … or ‘Pav’ as we call it in Aus.
The pav is essentially a huge meringue, typically topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit… and it’s delicious. You should try it. Now.
This is another sweet recipe that actually isn’t too hard to make! I made my first one ever using this recipe and was surprised at how simple I found it to be. The knowledge required for this recipe is knowing what ‘peaks’ are, especially when whipping the egg whites. Basically, whipping them with an electric mixer until they stand up without collapsing when you pull the mixture away will do it.
One thing I will suggest is to shape the form a little less like a meringue, and more like a concave in-onto itself so that the cream and the fruit have a little place to sit. Mine sorta slid off a little bit…
Again, if you’d like to give this one a go, click the link and have a crack!
Tres: Fig & Apple Crumble – a two-pronged recipe
Another fantastic thing about still living at home is that I have access to the lovely produce my family cultivates: eggs from our chickens, beans and tomatoes from the garden and figs and lemons from the respective trees. This year we’ve had an oversupply of figs, and although I don’t particularly like eating them raw, I knew I would love them in a dessert form. After searching through various cookbooks and online, I realised that they just might work beautifully in an apple crumble!
I’ve now made this 3 times, each time using this recipe for the apple and fig mixture and this one for the crumble. They’re both extremely simple, and can be used really with any fruit that you’d like; just apples, berries, etc. I will say that next time I might dial down the sugar and honey for the fruit, as it came out the last time a bit too sweet.
Give it a go with some ripe fruit from your garden, kitchen or the local shop! & p.s. Best served with vanilla ice cream!
Cuatro y final! For now… is PIZZA DOUGH!
This one is SO yummy, a bit sticky and really quite easy! If you haven’t made any type of bread/anything with yeast before, give it a go! It’s not as hard as it seems.
I decided to make this the other day when my brother and I were going to order pizza. Because I’m trying my best to be frugal at the moment, I thought that we mayaswell give this a right go. I’ve made bread once or twice, and pizza dough quite a while ago, but I forgot how easy this truly is if you have a little bit of time to let it prove, aka rise (about 30 mins is good).
The best thing about making pizza dough is being able to top it with whatever your heart desires! We topped one with ham, mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach, and the other with leftover chicken, barbecue sauce, tomatoes and spinach. Plus an unhealthy amount of cheese. Both were cooked on a pizza tray that features little holes in the bottom to make sure the bases gets nice and crusty, and they took only around 10-12 minutes to be nice, crisp and golden on the top.
Chicken in the foreground, Ham in the background (featuring a pretty large crust)
Simple, fresh, yummy, slightly overindulgent but it makes me happy. I hope food makes you happy too! Please try out some of these recipes, or next time you want to order out, try and find a simple recipe that you can make with some leftovers hiding in your fridge/pantry. It’s cheap and fun! Plus, most things taste better after you’ve made them yourself.
Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions on recipes for me to try!
Procrastination via COOKING It's no secret that food is one of my reasons for living, as is evidenced by my constant physical appearance of being 'big boned'.
