BANANA & EGG PANCAKE – Good for non fast days
1 Banana About 126 g (110 cals)
1 medium Egg (70)
Mundella Plain Greek Yoghurt 125 g (130)
Woolworths Frozen Mixed Berries 150 g (76)
OR 1 Fresh Passionfruit Pulp (35)
Pinch of Ground Cinnamon (optional) (1)
Pinch of Ground Ginger (optional) (2)

Mash banana then mix in one egg. Add spices if having.
Dollop mixture into frypan ( I make two small pancakes)
Top with berries and yoghurt.

I use free range eggs bought direct from farm and have put Mundella yoghurt because that’s the only one I use and I am not sure of calories for any others.
SERVES 1.
389 calories with berries or 348 with passionfruit.

Herbed Mushroom triangles

2 Mountain Bread wraps
Leek 50 grams
Chives , dessert spoon chopped
Lemon thyme, I use lemon rind sometimes , dessert spoon
1 spring onion
Parsley, 1 dessert spoon chopped
Lite Philly Cream Cheese. 150 grams
Mushrooms chopped 250 grams chopped.
Sprinkle of paprika
Sesame seeds

Sauté leek, chives spring onions,lemon thyme, parsley and mushrooms in pan sprayed with oil for about 5 minutes
Transfer to mixing bowl and allow to cool. Mix in the Philly Cream Cheese and season to taste

Place the Mountain Bread Wraps on a tray and fill one half of each one diagonally.
Fold over the other half u til they look like a triangle. Spray a little oil on the edges and both sides stick together. Sprinkle with paprika, spray with a little more oil and add sesame seeds .

Bake for 20 min in moderate oven and serve hot. I serve with baby spinach leaves or lettuce and tomato on the side.
Serves 2 at 295 cals per serve. Yummy

Curried cauliflower filling for above.
250 grams cauliflower florets
150 grams Philly lite Cheese
Leek 50 grams
Onion . 50 grams
1 teaspoon Curry powder.
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Same everything else as above and same method.
Slightly less cals
I don’t always have leeks so just use spring onions or Garlic chives.
Whatever is in your garden I guess. Just mix and match.
Don’t have to have the sesame seeds either if you don’t have any.

I also make a filling of the cream cheese and baby spinach with a few herbes and onion, you can make up anything you have in the fridge. Just don’t need to cook the baby spinach.

Great lunches for the cold days when you don’t feel like salad.
So easy to make …enjoy

Shepherds pie with cauliflower and pumpkin mash

Fairly basic but hearty for winter and low cal and low carb.

Ingredients
1 onion
150g zucchini
150g carrot
100g mushrooms
150ml passata
3/4 cup frozen peas
1T olive oil
1 desertspoon minced garlic
400g 4 star premium mince (Aldi)
parsley, basil, herbs..whatever you like. I stuck in some paprika too.
salt and pepper to taste

Topping
400g cauliflower
350g pumpkin
1 teasp garlic minced.
30g cornflakes
30g lite cream cheese

Chop veg into small cubes. add oil and garlic to pan and cook the veg for a few minutes with your herbs etc leaving the mushrooms till afterwards. Add the mince and brown. Add mushrooms and passata. Season. Let cook for around 20 mins. I added a stock cube and fiddled with the flavours. Put into a casserole dish and let cool a bit.

Steam the cauliflower and pumpkin while the mince is cooking. Place into a food processor with the lite cream cheese and garlic and blitz. Season to taste. Let cool a bit.

Carefully spoon the topping onto the mince and top with crunched up cornflakes (optional but nice).

Bake at 200ish for about 30 mins till bubbling and crispy on the top.

makes 6 serves at 236 calories each…

Hommus

Delicious, easy and a nice snack to take to work with crackers and is great with carrot sticks or celery for FD snack. 25g is 57 calories.

1 tin chickpeas (drained with liquid reserved)
1 teasp garlic (or to taste)
1/4 cup lemon juice ( i always end up adding more)
2T tahini
2T olive oil
1 teasp cumin powder
salt to taste

Drain chickpeas into a large plastic container and keep the liquid aside. Add water to the chickpeas and rub a bit, removing the skins. Do this for about 5 mins. Its very cathartic and helps the hommus be smooth as these husks are quite tough. You float them off then add more water and continue till you are happy most are gone.

In a food processor place all ingredients and blitz till smooth. Add salt to taste and if its a bit thick add some of the chickpea water or more oil. fiddle with the taste, adding more lemon juice or garlic or salt, till you are happy with the taste. Dont let it be too thick at this stage as it thickens a bit in the fridge. make it slightly more liquid than normal hommus you buy in the supermarket.Place in the fridge…let it rest for a few hours before serving. Once you have done this you wont buy hommus again.

Its really nice with crackers or leb bread which has been toasted a bit and is crisp. Its great with lots of things.

The “buttermilk fried chicken” (aka best ever, thank you dear SIL) recipe – note: it takes time between steps but even for me (not a fry cook) it was quite simple and easy.

Chicken pieces (recipe calls for 3# chicken, use what you like)
Flour (~2 cups) + seasonings (recipe calls for 1 T salt, 1 tea. black pepper, 1/2 tea. cayenne – I used less pepper and cayenne but added a pinch of Italian herbs). Put in a shaker bag.
3 cups buttermilk
1-2 onions, thinly sliced
1 cup shortening (like Crisco), half a stick of butter (you may need more of each for multiple batches)
Wax paper for chicken to rest on (very important step)

The steps:
Rinse the chicken – no need to shower or dry 😉
Salt the chicken pieces, place in bowl, let rest 1-2 hrs.
Rinse well, then put back in bowl with buttermilk and sliced onions.
Let marinate overnight (or at least a few hrs) in fridge. The flavor is great from this!
Then do this individually for each piece:
-Drain
-Put in flour bag and shake till coated
-Lay on wax paper
When all pieces are on wax paper, let them dry and get to room temp for 2 HOURS. This is the key to the recipe.
Now, to cook:
-Put shortening and butter in frying pan on high heat. The pan will need to have a lid.
-When melted and hot, add as much chicken as will fit w/o overlapping
-Cover pan, reduce heat to medium, let cook for 10 minutes, I LOVE THIS PART, NO MESS.
-Remove cover, turn each piece over, cook UNCOVERED ~8-12 more minutes (12 for dark, 8 for white) but check doneness by piercing with fork to see if juices run clear.

I did have to turn the larger pieces on their sides to make sure all got nice and brown. And if you have to do multiple batches, be sure to take a slotted spoon to the crumbles left behind from each batch or they will turn black and adhere to the next batch like barnacles!

Also, the recipe says to discard the onions, but I tossed them in the flour and fried them the same way (though for less time) when I was done frying the chicken. I mean, why not. They were yummy.

Hi all, please find following my recipe for a vegetable frittata. My inspiration was from the movie Morning Glory with Harrison Ford making one. (mine is better)
Serves 1.
Ingredients:
2 eggs 800kj – 191cal
3 egg whites (100grams) 200kj – 47cal
100grams capsicum diced (3 cheeks) 115kj – 27cal
100grams broccoli 85kj – 20cal
50grams peas (de-frost in a bowl of warm water) 135kj – 32cal
50grams onion diced 106kj – 25cal
1 tomato sliced and slices cut in half 90kj 21cal
1 tsp dried oregano

Method:
mix eggs, egg whites and oregano in a bowl until combined and pour into a 20cm cake tin lined with baking paper with the baking paper going up the sides of the tin. ( use a dab of butter in the cake tin make the baking paper stick)
Add all the vegetables into the mixture using half the tomatoes to cover the top of the frittata
Place into an oven at 200c for 35-40mins until cooked.
Remove tin from the oven and lift, using the paper, on to a plate.
Using a spatula or shirt lifter, gently go around the edges to seperate the frittata from the paper then remove paper.
Serve with a glass of your favourite water.

Total 1531kj – 366cal

Love the Aussie Thread… am following
I tend not to eat at all on fast days as i worry that i won’t stop if i start preparing food.
However your recipes might just make me change my ways…..
Thanks