FINYS FABULOUS FOODS AND FINDS

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...

Curries are a great idea for those cold chilly nights which we are having in Australia at the moment. There are many different variations of a curry, and curry is a term used to describe a dish that has spices in it, and especially used in Indian/Asian recipes, but also used in Mexico. Some of the distinctive spices that often get used in a curry include turmeric, cumin, chili, ginger and coriander. The good thing about curries is that you can vary the amount of spices you put in them and therefore make it as hot and spicy as you like it.  Some people will put a lot of chili in it to give it a hotter flavour, whereas other people cannot tolerate a very "hot" dish, so would put less spices in it. It is very difficult to fail when making a curry as it can be varied so much by using different, and more or less spices. There are green and red curries, amongst others, and this recipe is a "green" curry.  Another good thing about curries is that if you are in ...

I am not a vegan, and I am no longer even a vegetarian - I eat little red meat, and have a lot of milk and cheese. However, now, as I have often said, my lovelies, I have had to cut down on the amount of sugar I eat, so am always trying new low fat, no added sugar desserts and snacks. This is actually a vegan recipe, I believe, however that was co-incidence.  Often these raw desserts are vegan, and nearly always they are delicious. It is another recipe that needed to be made several times to get the consistency correct, but hey, I love creating and experimenting.  This one I had tasted a similar one at a friend's place, however she had bought it and did not quite know what was in it! This recipe does have some maple syrup in it, and I always buy the pure maple syrup as the cheaper one is more processed.  Even though "sugar is sugar" regardless of how it is presented, I really believe that using a natural sugar like maple syrup, or coconut sugar, is far healthier....

DUCK - I used to breed them, so now it is a bit odd to eat them! They are beautiful creatures, but then again if you think this way, we would all be vegetarians! Many people just love duck and some, of course, do not like it.  I think there is an art to cooking it, and I have cooked it over the years many way. One of my favourite meals, when I eat out is Peking Duck and you can read about some of the restaurants I have tried at this link , or this link . When done correctly, duck can be tender and delicious, however getting it right is not so easy. The latest way I am doing it is in slow oven, and baking it for longer than normal.  Getting the skin crisp is an art that I sometimes achieve and sometimes not.  I have even bought an Asian speciality to make the skin look like it does in the photos on the above links, however it was difficult to work with, went a nice colour but was still not crisp. One good way to bake duck is in a clear bag that is freely availa...

BRUNCH - is something that gets eaten a little later than breakfast! Or supposedly so.  Sometimes I make a big breakfast and I usually have this a bit later than my normal uncooked breakfast, as then I do not need to have lunch as well. Well, my lovelies, here is a recipe that is great for a Sunday morning, and it will save you making lunch for everyone.  I love breakfasts as eggs are one of my favourite foods (along with bacon and Nestle Sweetened Condensed milk). Sadly, I can no longer eat the Sweetened Condensed milk as there is just too much sugar in it, so I now concentrate more on savoury dishes, as well as a few sweets with no added sugar. But this article is not about sweets or my sugar levels!  It is about a brunch pie!  In this one I have teamed my two favourites - eggs and bacon and turned them into a rustic egg, bacon and cheese pie. Each week, the consensus is different about whether eggs are bad for your cholesterol levels or not.  Curren...

Turkey is a very low fat mince, is extremely cheap to use, and best of all, it has a lovely taste.  It is also very versatile, and I often cook using this mince. It is also an excellent source of protein and good if you are on a low fat diet. You can buy it at all supermarkets nowadays, and I usually buy 500 g, use half and have some always in the freezer. Often when I cannot think what to make for an evening meal, we have turkey balls with spaghetti, which is both easy to make, quick and delicious.  Having them on hand in the freezer is great for an emergency when I don't feel like being creative, or thinking about what to cook! In this instance I made the turkey into a "meatloaf" and as I was having one of my grandchildren here for dinner, I also minced some carrot, and a few other vegetables, which he could not taste.  He is not a good eater, and that is how we get him to eat vegetables - by hiding them in certain foods. I wanted some sort of sauce with this,...

Gozleme - these are Turkish and are a stuffed flat bread type of meal. The Turkish people have been making these for many years, and I have been eating them out for about a year. In fact, I have written an article about Gozleme cafes, which you can check out here .   There are all different fillings you can put in these, however they are mostly spinach and feta, or rather that is a very popular option.  You can also have them with meat however I no longer eat red meat very often. Eating them out at Turkish cafes is usually very cheap and one serving is enough for two people for lunch.  This makes them only about $6 Australian each for a lunch, which is indeed very cheap! They are always made fresh, and you can often watch the skill and dexterity which they use in making this bread - I find this fascinating to watch. I decided I would try them myself as I generally prefer home made food as I know exactly what goes in it, and there are usually less chemical...

Raw is currently the rage in cooking!  I have made some interesting recipes, though I have to admit some of them have failed! It is not so easy to get the right quantities of ingredients so that the sweet or dessert will not fall apart. I make a lot of bliss balls, as currently I am not eating much with refined sugar in them, and most of these raw desserts have no added processed sugars. This one also has chia seeds in it.  I love the texture of these seeds, and they are so easy to use in a variety of sweets and puddings.  They are also supposedly another of the new "super foods".  Their health properties include such things as Omega-3, antioxidants, fibre, iron and calcium.  They also contain some protein and are versatile in that they can be eaten both cooked or raw.  However they should be added to another food or soaked before eating them. Raw foods are the latest health craze and many of them use obscure ingredients.  However this recipe...