Simple soup, meal, sides and dessert ideas for you and your family this Easter. Vegan and vegetarian options too!
Easy Spinach and Feta Pie Recipe
Cheesy spinachy crispy goodness – this pie is delicious and easy to make.
Nana Bev’s Corned Beef With White Onion Sauce Recipe
A delicious and simple recipe I acquired from a friend’s grandmother during my University days when I was in a share-house with a big group of country boys. Nana Bev got me sorted – she even made me write notes. Sadly, she had a poor opinion of me as wife material. Read on to find out why!
Easy White Bean Stuffed Zucchini
This quick and easy zucchini dish is great as a vegetarian or vegan main course, or as tasty side. Enjoy!
Creamy Sausage and Mushroom Pasta Recipe
He chopped a garlic, set a pot of water to boil on the stove, and poured a healthy amount of kosher salt into it. He threw the garlic in a pan of olive oil and let it sizzle for just a minute before taking it off the heat. The smell began to relax […]
Nan’s Quick Thai Chicken and Potato Soup
The pull of our roots can be such a strong force, no matter how far or wide we may roam. Lauren McDuffie Hey, Lovelies. This simple Thai flavours chicken soup is one of my favourites. The recipe was given to me many years ago by a girl I met at University. Nan was Thai, and […]
Franc’s Tasty Beans And Rice One Pot Meal Recipe
When you’re down on your luck and you’ve lost all your dreams there’s nothing like a campfire and a can of beans. Tom Waits Hey, Lovelies! Early last year I found myself in Arizona – first in Scottsdale, and then in and around Sedona. As an Australian, one of the things that wowed me was […]
Simple Pan-Fried Fish Fillets with Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce
If you are careful,’ Garp wrote, ‘if you use good ingredients, and you don’t take any shortcuts, then you can usually cook something very good. Sometimes it is the only worthwhile product you can salvage from a day; what you make to eat. With writing, I find, you can have all the right ingredients, give […]
Simple Cheesy Baked Salmon Recipe
“Like all magnificent things, it’s very simple.” Natalie Babbitt Hey, Lovelies! This is a great quick dinner idea if you enjoy salmon. You need just a couple of ingredients, and then a few simple sides. The cream cheese makes a flavourful and rich topping, and the crunch of the almonds gives a great textural contrast. […]
Easy Fried Plantains Recipe
‘Plantains? Cook ’em up and you can’t go wrong. We’ll tell you how. They go with everything, love.’ Neville Singh Hello, Lovelies, You’ll probably know that one of my favourite places on a Friday is the Mullumbimby Farmers Markets, and it was here that I was first convinced to give Plantains a go, thanks to […]
Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potato Salad with Lime and Garlic Dressing #Vegan
“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like “What about lunch?” ~ A. A. Milne It’s a known fact that historically Ben won’t eat two things – Brussels Sprouts and Cottage Pie (which he calls Poo Pie!) after bad experiences at boarding school back in […]
Easy Puff Pastry Ham and Egg Pie for Mother’s Day
“Motherhood is a choice you make every day, to put someone else’s happiness and well-being ahead of your own, to teach the hard lessons, to do the right thing even when you’re not sure what the right thing is…and to forgive yourself, over and over again, for doing everything wrong.”~ Donna Ball It’s Mother’s Day […]
Five Dishes to Cook for a Fabulous Easter Feast
“ Cooking is at once child’s play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love. ” ~ Craig Claiborne If you’re looking for inspiration for a tasty and easy meal to share with your family this Easter I have some simple suggestions for you. There’s a creamy Celery Soup for starters, […]
Quick and Easy Bacon and Vegetable Pasta Recipe
“People just adore pasta. It’s a simple fact.” ~ Marc Vetri I’ve had a girlfriend staying with me for a few days. And for those few days it has been cold here at the farm. Both of us have been unwell, so our days have been napping, reading books in front of the fire, writing, doctor […]
Easy Moist Lemon, Rosemary and Cider Roast Chicken Recipe
“If the home is a body, the table is the heart, the beating centre, the sustainer of life and health.” ~ Shauna Niequist I’m still getting over the flu, so I’m tired and useless and have no energy or brain for anything much at all. But we had friends arriving home to our village who’ve […]
Fry-Up Bowl – An Easy Meal For Anytime!
“If you can eat with mates or friends or family, I mean, it’s such a brilliant thing isn’t it? If you feel really rubbish and you have a nice bit of food it makes you feel good, you know?” ~ Jamie Oliver Fry-Up Bowls are a favourite easy meal in our house. To be […]
Easy Puff Pastry Quiche
“Lunch makes me feel a bit better.” ~ Suzanne Collins Recently my friend Carly and I popped in to her parents’ house for lunch, and then a tour of her mum’s garden. Jewel made a lovely salad with fresh greens from her vegetable patch, and I took over a simple quiche that I’d whipped up […]
Honey Pepper Beef Marinade and Stirfry Recipe
“I just love Chinese food. My favourite dish is number 27.” ~ Clement Attlee Note: Finally, the recipe I tried to post the other day! This is the one that kept uploading pictures of the beach, instead of my food pictures. How grateful I am now that this post was already written and only […]
Bacon, Egg and Broccoli Slice
“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.” ~ Albert Einstein I am a big fan of using simple ingredients thrown together to make easy meals. Meals that ANYONE can cook. (Even people with no cooking experience, and people who have rarely ventured into a kitchen or […]
Easy Tuscan Chicken Recipe
“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.” ~ Laurie Colwin This is a simple meal to throw together, and a regular in our household. The flavours are […]
Roast Lamb with Rosé, Garlic, Honey, Roasted Peaches and Apples
“You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces — just good food from fresh ingredients.” – Julia Child Roast lamb is a family favourite here at the farm. I love cooking roasts, because there is always enough to feed a crowd, or enough for Ben and I to enjoy a delicious dinner and […]
Mexican Beef, Bean and Eggplant Casserole
“Casseroles are one-pot-wonders!” ~ Carla Hall I love a good casserole, and this one will feed a crowd! This tasty casserole is a filling meal, especially with a side of vegetables or salad. It is gluten-free and low carb too for people who are following those ways of eating. Any left-overs are terrific served with corn […]
Easy Chilli Con Carne Recipe
“I think preparing food and feeding people brings nourishment not only to our bodies but to our spirits. Feeding people is a way of loving them, in the same way that feeding ourselves is a way of honoring our own createdness and fragility.” ~ Shauna Niequist Chilli con carne is one of those great […]
Easy Moussaka Recipe
“If you are careful,’ Garp wrote, ‘if you use good ingredients, and you don’t take any shortcuts, then you can usually cook something very good. Sometimes it is the only worthwhile product you can salvage from a day; what you make to eat. With writing, I find, you can have all the right ingredients, give […]
Cheesy Bean Pie Recipe
“Student food.” His eyes went to the tomato on the sill. “Whatever’s in the refrigerator over pasta.” ~ Kim Harrison, Dead Witch Walking I’ve been making variations of this pie since I was a college student living away from home in share houses – back in the days where we were all perpetually broke, […]
Slow Roasted Leg of Lamb with Garlic, Herbs and Red Wine
“The quest for slowness, which begins as a simple rebellion against the impoverishment of taste in our lives, makes it possible to rediscover taste.” ~ Carlo Petrini, founder of the International Slow Food Movement When I’m busy writing or working I prefer to make a dinner that’s easy and which gives me something to look […]
Warm Lamb Salad with Tahini, Kale and Roasted Tomatoes
“Don’t just eat McDonald’s, get something a bit better. Eat a salad. That’s what fashion is. It’s something that is a bit better.” ~ Vivienne Westwood One of the pleasures of being on the farm is wandering around the garden in the late afternoon, hunting out things to eat for dinner. I have an abundance […]
Tasty Honey Soy Chicken Marinade
“We believed in our grandmother’s cooking more fervently than we believed in God.” ~ Jonathan Safran Foer When we were small children, we referred to excursions to my maternal grandparents’ home for dinner as ‘visiting the Palace’. My grandmother, Marga, would set an elegant table, with a lace tablecloth, a decorative floral arrangement, soft linen […]
Tasty Moroccan Lamb Curry
“May my thoughts of kindness stretch over like a warm blanket to envelop your being and caress your soul.” ~ Truth Devour It’s cold, blustery weather here at the farm right now. I made a pot of this simple curry with the meat from some leftover grilled lamb chops. This recipe works equally well with leftover lamb […]
Simple Roast Chicken Recipe
“Cooking well doesn’t mean cooking fancy.” ~ Julia Child I was about to roast a chicken yesterday morning when a friend popped in. “Can you wait just a minute while I get this roast ready” I asked her. She looked at me as if I was from another planet. “Seriously? How long will that […]
Tasty Sausage Casserole Recipe
“I think preparing food and feeding people brings nourishment not only to our bodies but to our spirits. Feeding people is a way of loving them, in the same way that feeding ourselves is a way of honoring our own createdness and fragility.” ~ Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way I […]
Nana’s Apricot Chicken Recipe
“If nothing is going well, call your grandmother.” ~ Italian Proverb My beloved Nana was never a fancy cook. Her food was simple, tasty, quick to prepare and always economical. I have missed her so much since she passed in late 2012, but whenever I make one of her recipes I always feel that she is […]
Osso Buco Recipe with Beetroot and Rosemary
“The beet is what happens when the cherry finishes with the carrot. The beet is the ancient ancestor of the autumn moon, bearded, buried, all but fossilized; the dark green sails of the grounded moon-boat stitched with veins of primordial plasma; the kite string that once connected the moon to the Earth now a muddy […]
Tasty Chorizo Risotto Recipe
“Some foods are so comforting, so nourishing of body and soul, that to eat them is to be home again after a long journey. To eat such a meal is to remember that, though the world is full of knives and storms, the body is built for kindness.” ― Eli Brown, Cinnamon and Gunpowder Risotto is one […]
Easy Chicken Curry with Coconut Cream
“Some foods are so comforting, so nourishing of body and soul, that to eat them is to be home again after a long journey. To eat such a meal is to remember that, though the world is full of knives and storms, the body is built for kindness. The angels, who know no hunger, have […]
Easy Beef Rissoles with Sundried Tomato and Feta
“Miracles are like meatballs, because nobody can exactly agree on what they are made of, where they come from, or how often they should appear.” ~ Lemony Snicket, The Carnivorous Carnival Growing up, beef rissoles (meatballs) were a staple in my family. They are easy to make, economical, and make a filling meal which usually yields […]
Easy Vegetable Tart Recipe
“The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, all on a summer’s day; the Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts, and took them clean away. The King of Hearts called for the tarts, and beat the Knave full sore; the Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts, and vowed he’d steal no more.” ~ […]
Easy Spinach and Ricotta Pie – Gluten Free
“I’m strong to the finish when I eats me spinach!” ~ Popeye the Sailor Man Who doesn’t love an easy meal? My misbehaving eye was banished to the naughty corner yesterday so I was cooking with my pirate patch on. Even one-eyed I still managed to whip this up with little effort, proving that ANYONE can […]
Nana’s Curried Sausages Recipe
“The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.” ~ Thomas More My Nana grew up in the Depression, and then started married life at the beginning of World War Two. There was always plenty of love – good friends and family – […]
Slow Cooker Italian Lamb Shank Recipe
“There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.”~ Jane Austen I’m totally in love with my slow cooker right now. Just ten minutes of preparation in the morning and the slow cooker does all the work so that by nightfall I have a luscious, melt-in-the-mouth dinner, brimful of goodness and with next to […]
Lemony Slow-Cooked Lamb Shanks Recipe
“I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.” ~ W.C. Fields Slow cooked food – there’s nothing better to nurture the body and comfort the spirit, and this tasty dish fits the bill perfectly. Now that there’s a chill in the air here at the farm, a nourishing warm dinner is always […]
Speedy Lamb Ragu Recipe
“The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” ~ Calvin Trillin Roast dinners are popular on the farm, especially when I have a crowd to feed. And if I’m lucky, we’ll end up with leftovers. This is a speedy […]
Pumpkin Soup Recipe and the Writing Disease
If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don’t write, because our culture has no use for it. ~ Anais Nin You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. ~ Ray Bradbury There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit […]
Slow-Cooked Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe
It’s been a cold, wet week at my farm. One of my favourite easy dinners in this sort of weather is home-cooked spaghetti bolognese. When we come in from the paddocks at the end of the day, all muddy and cold, there’s nothing better than a hot shower to warm back up, and then a […]
Virtual Vegan Potluck – Creamy Satay Hotpot Recipe
Welcome to the Virtual Vegan Potluck: bringing vegan food bloggers together to share a virtual potluck, linked by a blog circle – and our love of cooking, eating and sharing. Participating bloggers will be posting recipes – from appetizers to desserts. Many Blessings to Annie from the wonderful blog an unrefined vegan for bringing us […]
Psychic Dogs and Chicken Recipes
Yes, I know that is rather a strange title, but I promise there’s a link! I have been in Brisbane for over a week, and I’m feeling long overdue to return to my farm. There are a few things I need to tidy up this morning before I go, then I shall pack the ute […]
Spicy Calamari Stir Fry Recipe
I find cooking to be one of the most grounding and nurturing activities in my sometimes crazy life. This is a fantastically easy and tasty recipe that works equally well for squid/calamari, firm white fish fillets, tofu, chicken or pork. Pair it with a white wine, beer or a smoky tea. And please think about […]