FINYS FABULOUS FOODS AND FINDS

Partly eaten lime pie! This unusual combination of ingredients is for the sweet tooth, though the sweetness is diminished by the addition of lime juice and zest. Lime (or lemons) are such a great combination, and this is unusual in that it has salty cracker biscuits as well - so you have sweet, bitter and salty.  I used Jatz biscuits but any slightly salty cracker would be fine. You can either serve them in individual dishes or, as I have done, in one pie dish.  Either way, it tastes very yummy! This is a great dessert to serve up when you have visitors, as it never fails to impress them.  It is also quite easy to make and requires no cooking, and only one dish to wash up. Preparation Time: 15 minutes (plus overnight) Cooking Time: 0 minutes Makes: 5 servings Ingredients 395 g tin sweetened condensed milk 275 g cream ¼ cup lime juice ¾ tbsp lime zest About 150 g Ritz crackers Instructions Combine the milk and cream in a large bowl. Add the lime...

This recipe is very simple, quick to prepare, and also tastes very good. It is a handy "stand-by" in case you have unexpected visitors, and is a great family meal, and always impresses visitors! It is one of those recipes that just keeps improving each time you reheat it, so make double  the quantity, and freeze it, or eat it for several days. You could also add bacon or chorizo, for even more taste, and this would need to be browned first before adding to the rest of the meal. Preparation Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 60 minutes Makes: 4-6 servings Ingredients 6 x skinless chicken thighs ½ cup chutney (any) ¼ cup mayonnaise (a good one) ¼ cup tomato sauce Tsp curry Potatoes (optional) Instructions Clean the thighs, and cut them again in half as they are usually large - take off some of the fat, and place the thighs in an ovenproof dish. Add the other ingredients plus a bit of salt and pepper if desired. Mix this until it is smooth, and all mixe...

This is an unusual recipe, looks great, and tastes absolutely delicious. It is basically chocolate covered sponge fingers, with a cream cheese mixture in the middle, stuck together with the melted chocolate! You could put any fruit on the top and I have eaten it one day with pineapple and nectarine, and the next with just kiwi fruit.  Most fruit, and particularly berries, would go very well with this combination. I generally use Lindt 70% chocolate, or a chocolate called Freys (available in Australia at Woolworths and cheaper than Lindt - just as good!) in cooking, as the finished product is as good as the quality of the chocolate in cooking.  I never use a cheaper type of chocolate, as it is like cooking with wine - the better the product, the better the outcome. Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 5 minutes Makes: 4 servings Ingredients 6 sponge fingers 100 g dark chocolate  220 g Philadelphia spreadable Light cream cheese ¼ cup icing sugar...

I am always on the lookout for things that my grandson likes to eat, as he eats little! One of the things he likes is pineapple, and as he loves the bought pineapple rings, I decided to make my own as they would then have less sugar and oil. I baked them instead of deep frying as they do when you buy them, and I always buy these when we get fish and chips. I have read that fish and chips and Coke Cola are the two most unhealthy foods we can eat, so, much as we love my fish and chips, we only have them every few months, and generally only when my grandson stays the weekend. He is such a bad eater, however, that he only eats chips - if we order something like Red Rooster, he still only has chips. So I thought this pineapple idea was a good one. When buying pineapples, you need to be very careful.  I have found that the ones in the supermarket generally have little taste or are even sour. I therefore always buy a pineapple from an expensive fruit store, where I know the ...

I am not a vegan, however I am avoiding making recipes that have processed sugar in them.  This can be quite difficult at times, as all my favourites do have sugar in them. Unfortunately I have a sweet tooth, so after being diagnosed with high sugar levels, I decided I had to stop eating cakes, biscuits and desserts which I had on most days! I then went down the path of making sweet morsels that had fruit in them.  I realise that the fruit still has sugar in it, however it is not processed and therefore possibly healthier than ordinary sugar. I mostly use coconut sugar or similar in these recipes, however am now making ones that do not require any added sugar as the sweetness comes from the dried fruit.  These are not as sweet as commercial cakes and biscuits, however in time I have got used to having bliss balls, or raw sweets to satisfy my sweet tooth. It is with all this in mind, that I made these raw apricot slices.  I often use either dried apric...

Lime curd or lime butter - what can I say!  It is one of the most delicious desserts or spreads for use on toast. It can either be lemons or limes and in this case I had limes on a tree, and as I do not have a lemon tree, I used up the limes. I also made my own pastry as I like to do, as I know exactly what goes into it if I make it myself.  I also find that the bought pastries are too thick, and the pastry takes over the whole tart or pie, or whatever you are making.  Hence I also do not like to buy pies as against making them from "scratch", as if buying a shop made product, in most cases the pastry is way too thick. Pastry is really very easy to make, there is no standing or resting as you do not use a rising agent so pastry really takes no longer than about ten minutes to make.  Once you have made your own, you will only go back to a bought one, when you are really in a hurry. I had also made a batch of the lime curd a few days before, and you can see thi...

Potato salad is another one of my favourites. Yes, I know, my lovelies, I have a lot of favourites - probably because I eat to live, and not live to eat! I tend to make potato salad in the hotter months as it is a cold meal or accompaniment, and have always wanted to try one that would be good for the colder months, and indeed during winter. This recipe hit all the right buttons, and I was able to have my potato salad in winter! Potato salad is something that is easy to make as you can put whatever you like in it.  I tend to make the same one over the over in summer, as it is so good, and do not often vary it.  However, that recipe is for another day when it warms up here in Australia! This is a simple, yet very tasty main meal or serve it as a side to a main meal.  For vegetarians, the bacon could be omitted and a bit of salt added for flavour.  I do not add salt to meals generally if I am putting bacon in them, as bacon has so much salt on it's own. ...

I don't know about you, my lovelies, but I just love anything sweet made with lemons or limes.  The sourness of either of these citrus fruits teamed with the sweetness of other foods, makes this a match made in heaven for me, and I often make this sort of thing. I am also often trying savoury dishes using lemons however at the moment I have no fresh lemons.  Lemons are now mainly imported into Australia and are as much as $1 for a small lemon, and limes are slightly cheaper, which is most unusual! However, once again I am digressing - I appear to be good at that! This is such an easy recipe as you do not have to dirty any pots, and therefore little washing up afterwards. I always keep a supply of "pretty" bottles for this sort of thing (and for jams), and I have even bought some because the jars were so attractive. This recipe makes an excellent gift for a birthday, Christmas, or any other event, and everyone I have given it to, has been very appreciative.  Th...

Rice paper rolls are a bit fiddly but I think they are SO worth it.  With vegetables (or meat) wrapped in a wafer thin pancake type of rolls, there is no limit to your imagination when creating different versions of these! They are generally with Asian inspired vegetables, however you could really making anything inside these tiny paper thin pancakes.  I have even made a dessert using them, and they were delicious as the pancake is not sweet and the sweet of a dessert balances it out to give a great sweet! They can also be vegetarian or not!  They are often made with prawns, which is a recipe I often make, however in this instance I decided to be "vegetarian" for the night!  My partner is a meat and veggies person, and was not impressed that I left out the meat part, however he even admitted that they tasted very good. If you do not eat fish, simply leave the tuna out of this recipe, however the tuna makes it extra healthy as it is packed with Omega3 which ha...