Foodie Food, Food, Food!

My mum thinks it's absolutely hilarious that I, yes I, write about and show photos of cooking. I used to hate being in the kitchen, hated cooking. Cooking was a chore and a bore to me. But as I've had to change my diet, I've been looking at simple ways to obtain the nutrients I and my family need. But it has to be simple and quick to make, otherwise I lose interest.

Lately there have been lots of colourful, fresh, delicious vegies available. Just look at this enormous bunch of Brussels Sprouts! I've never seen them like this. I'd always assumed for some reason that they grew singularly. Not so. But tightly packed onto this thick stem. You just snap them off and pop them in boiling water. Yum! Soooo good with a little butter and salt, or gravy.

Warm, hearty soup was so easy the other day. All I had to do was chop, add to the pan and bingo! Yummy soup. One pot dinner. A little leftover roast, finely chopped, added depth of flavour. I also splashed in some Worcester sauce and a few dried herbs like rosemary and oregano. A tin of sweet corn rounded out the colours and flavours. Beef stock helps but isn't essential.

At Garden Club last month I procured some home grown, fresh tamarillos, which taste a bit like tomato and pear combined. (the paler ones, at least. The darker red ones have black seeds and taste a bit more bitter.) Saute gently with onion, just like tomato, and they taste great in a bolognese. You can eat the pale ones raw, just like any fruit. Scrumptious!

I also got hold of some rhubarb and together with sliced pear, stewed them on the old wood-fired stove in our kitchen. We had it with a little cream.

The other day I was in the supermarket idly looking at lunchbox options for kidlet, and realised jelly fruit were $1.30 just for one small cup! So I bought six small containers, packets of jelly, diced some apple and mandarin and voila! Jelly fruit cups, homemade. They were a hit. And so easy. Hardly took any time at all. Just make sure you choose smooth sided containers. Easy to get ALL the jelly out.

Because I have had to venture into the gluten free world (long story) I am always trying new ways of doing standard dishes. You can easily buy pre-mixed gluten free flours now, which I used to make pancakes. I left out the egg, which I normally added, and they were fine. Brilliant with banana and maple syrup.

And finally, my gastronomic efforts produced these gluten free vanilla coconut almond cookies. It's actually a modified Donna Hay recipe, which wasn't gluten free. I substituted almond meal and desiccated coconut for flour. They are stunningly good! Even Hubby, who screws up his face at the thought of gluten free anything, went back for seconds. And thirds. And there were quite a few mysteriously missing the next day. They are crunchy on the outside and chewy inside. Peeeeeerfect.