The simplest and best healthy chicken soup

This is a no frills chicken soup recipe that never fails to hit the spot. It’s always the simple recipes that taste the best and that’s especially true when it comes to chicken soup.

How to make sweet potato fries – an indulgent primal treat

Sweet potato fries are one of the simplest and most satiating savoury treats to grace the Earth, I swear! Salty and sweet, crispy-skinned and soft-centred, honestly, what more could anyone ask for?

Sugar-free rhubarb plum compote makes a nice jam

Compote is easy to make and has so many uses, from fruit crumbles and smoothies to porridge toppings and biscuits. It’s also a great way to use fruit when you’ve found yourself with an abundance. But sugar-free compote, you ask? Why yes, and it also makes a lovely ‘jam’.

Sugar-free meal plan: week 10

Challenge complete: I did not buy one grocery item this week. The challenge I set last week was followed through by me being frugal and creative, but also benefiting from the generosity of good friends who gave me eggs from their farms and, of course, my family who supplied me with some grass-fed beef from their farm.

Savoury mince muffins – like meat pies only healthier, tastier

These savoury mince muffins are fool-proof and a great way to use up leftover ground beef. I had leftover bolognese mince from the weekend, some seasonal vegetables and farm fresh eggs floating about in the fridge and was particularly hungry one morning. So I thought, why not combine them all and have a breakfast feast of healthy and hearty savoury mince muffins?!

Sugar-free meal plan: week 9

This was a budget week and to continue to momentum I have challenged myself to not buy anything next week – I am going to make use of absolutely everything in my fridge and pantry (love food hate waste!). I am lucky however that my pop (you remember the “retired” butcher?) has sent me some grass-fed beef, spinach and chokos, so you might notice a few things in the shopping list this week and next that haven’t been mentioned in previous weeks. But technically I haven’t bought them 😉

Sugar-free meal plan: week 8

The interesting thing about cutting out sugar from your diet is the way your concept of treats totally changes within a relatively short time frame. Looking back over this week’s food diary I can see that I consumed more fruit than other weeks (I generally stick to two serves a day). Prior to adopting a sugar-free lifestyle I ate bucket loads of fruit. Now I consider it my ‘sweet treat’. And, with my successful experiments in the kitchen this week (sugar-free Banoffee Pie anyone?!), I did not miss out on anything.

Creamy salmon, leek, spinach and pasta pie for one

It’s not often I am home alone, and you’d think when I was I’d appreciate a night off from cooking. Instead, on this particularly cold evening, I opened the fridge to find a week’s worth of leftover food – none of which actually made a meal in themselves. What did I have that needed to be used up fast? Spinach, leek, pasta and sour cream. What else did I have that could complement those items? Salmon and cheese! And that is how I came to make my first Creamy Salmon, Leek and Spinach Pasta Pie (for one) – and it was yummy!

Sugar-free meal plan: week 7

I am normally one to follow a recipe to the tee, but since I quit sugar I have found there are few recipes for sugar-free desserts or ‘sweet treats’ out there. And, anything I do find  inevitably contains an artificial sugar or sweetener of some kind – now tell me, would you quit smoking and take up drugs? To me, quitting sugar and replacing it with a chemical alternative makes no sense. So, I experiment. Sometimes it goes pear-shaped, other times I am pleasantly surprised. This week was a pleasantly surprising week.

Special Thai Green Curry with Prawns and Rice Noodles

Thai flavours are some of the best in the world. The combinations of sweet, sour, spicy, salty and fresh are just magic in your mouth! However, Thai foods can be laden with salt and sugar. If you’re conscious about these things, you are going to love  this amazing recipe! I call it Special Thai Green Curry with Prawns and Rice Noodles – special because it uses fresh, homemade Thai Green Curry paste!

Sugar-free meal plan: week 6

This could possibly be one of my most economical, sustaining and delicious sugar-free eating weeks yet. My whole week’s meal plan centres around one roast leg of lamb. After the initial roast dinner on Monday, I managed to get another four lunches out of the same leg of lamb (and we had four people living in the house this week!) and I used the stock juice to cook the mushroom risotto for dinner on Friday night! The dogs then enjoyed the bones!

Sugar-free meal plan: week 5

I visited friends on the weekend whose parents have the most impressive and welcoming house and they have established the most amazing garden. In fact, their house and garden feature in the book Country Gardens, Country Hospitality: A Visit to Australia’s Best. It truly is an inspiration and if you ever spot the book be sure to flick to the chapter on the Fishers’ home and garden in Orange, NSW.