Stephanie’s Hazelnut Sponge with Coffee Cream

Last year I held a cake stall in my backyard to raise some money for the famine appeal in East Africa. With the help of wonderful friends and family, we raised almost $600 for Oxfam and the World Food Program.

Fundraising aside, the best thing about the day for me was discovering people’s favourite cake recipes. My friend Nada’s mum, Stephanie, brought this beautiful hazelnut sponge and it was a big hit.

Stephanie is a Croatian Australian and hands down the best cook I know. I love everything about her attitude to food and cooking. She makes simple but stunning food with the freshest and best ingredients possible, and nothing is ever wasted. She grows her own vegetables, fruit and herbs, and a visit to her garden is inspirational. It’s almost unbelievable how much produce her small garden in inner city Melbourne provides.

Stephanie kindly shared this recipe with me and now I’m sharing it with you. It’s such a beautiful cake – delicate and nutty. It is perfect with afternoon coffee or tea, or after dinner with a liqueur. I’ve only really made one change, and that is to reduce the amount of sugar, as it’s my standard operating procedure to do so. The coffee cream is my touch. If you prefer, as Stephanie suggests, chocolate cream, then substitute the coffee for a teaspoon of cocoa powder.

• 4 eggs, separated
• pinch of cream of tartar (about 1/4 teaspoon)
• 1/3 cup caster sugar (or 1/2 cup if you want it sweeter)
• 2/3 cup ground hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup self raising flour (or plain flour + 1 teaspoon baking powder)
• 25 g, or two level tablespoons, butter melted in 2 tablespoons boiling water.
• 150 ml pure cream
• 1 level tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee

Preheat oven to 180c.

Grease a 20cm square cake tin or high sided tray (you can use a larger one if that’s all you have, as I did, but the sponge will be thinner).

Assemble all your ingredients so you have everything at hand once you get cracking.

Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar with electric beaters until peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and beat until thick and glossy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Sift over the flour, add the hazelnuts and fold in carefully with a metal spoon. Add the melted butter and water and mix gently. Pour into the tin and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool a little then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Beat the cream, coffee and sugar in an electric mixer until thick and spreadable. If the coffee granules haven’t dissolved, let it sit for five minutes then stir through.

Carefully slice the sponge in half horizontally. Spread the cream over the bottom half, put the top half on and dust with icing sugar. Cut into squares.

Coconut Dahl With Spinach

This is a super easy dahl that everyone will love. I’ve adapted it from a much loved Indian cookbook. It’s healthy and tasty, and makes a lovely meal on its own with rice and accompaniments, as a side to meat or fish, or as part of a curry banquet.

Most of the dahl ingredients all go into the pot at the same time to simmer. The dish is then tempered at the end with a spicy onion mix.

• 2 cups red lentils
• 250 ml coconut milk
• 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon tumeric
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 green chillis sliced, or chilli powder or flakes to taste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cummin seeds
• about 2 cups or handfuls of english spinach leaves

Wash and rinse the lentils and place in a heavy based saucepan with the tomatoes, coconut milk, half the onion, the cumin powder, turmeric, garam masala, chilli and water. Stir and heat, then let simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring as you go, and adding more water if necessary.

While it’s cooking, sauté the remaining onion in some oil until soft and golden. Add the garlic, cumin and mustard seeds and stir for a minute. Add to the lentil mix after 20 minutes, then simmer for another 10 minutes. Stir the washed spinach leaves through at the end and serve with rice and your favourite accompaniments, such as raita, mango or lime chutney, or banana tossed in coconut.

Tip: If you want to speed this up for a fast mid-week meal, keep a jar of caramelised onions, or caramelised onion relish, in the fridge and add a tablespoon at the end instead of sautéing the second half of the onion. Then just pop the cumin and mustard seeds in the microwave for 30 seconds in a dish with some oil. If you do this, just use a small onion for the first part.

Banana and Pecan Loaf

Welcome back bananas! After almost a year at around $16/kilo following the devastation caused by Cyclone Yasi, bananas are now back in abundant supply, and currently selling for around $3-4/kilo.

To celebrate, I’m sharing my favourite banana recipe with you. It’s basically Tessa Kiros’ banana bread recipe, with pecans added, and a few other slight changes. I’ve been making it for my son now since he was 1, although I now leave out the pecans when making it for his school lunch box.

If you make this, you will never be able to eat bland banana bread from a cafe again.

• 125 g butter, softened
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 350 g – about 3 – ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
• 1 and half teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon bicarb soda, dissolved in 3 tablespoons warm milk
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 180c. Grease and line a standard size loaf tin.

Do your prep: mash the bananas and set aside. Sift the flour and baking powder in a bowl and add the cinnamon, set aside. Chop the pecans and set aside. Have the eggs, and the milk and bicarb mixture ready to go.

In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, mixing until combined, then the banana. Mix well. Add the flour mixture and milk, and fold in until combined. Fold in the nuts.

Pour the mixture in the loaf tin and even out on top a little. Bake for about 55 minutes. Insert a skewer into the middle. If it doesn’t come out clean, continue baking for another 5 or so minutes (you might have to do what I do here, and drop the temperature slightly to stop it burning on the bottom)

Cool on a rack, and preferably serve while warm

 

 

Chorizo Meatballs

I am not a big fan of chorizo. I like the flavour, but it always makes me feel a little ill. I think it’s the combination of cured meat and the rich spices and flavours.

I thought if I took the basic chorizo ingredients – pork, garlic, paprika – and made meatballs I’d end up with a fresher take on it. I was right. These are delicious and contain far fewer nasties than your favourite chorizo sausage. Barbecuing or grilling them is a healthier option than pan frying too.

You could serve them in many ways: as part of tapas, in a paella, in a pasta sauce, with grilled prawns and salad, or make very small ones and serve with toothpicks as finger food. I like them with fresh ingredients to balance out the richness – pureed peas or broad beans for example.

Makes about 12 meatballs.

• 500 grams pork mince
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 teaspoons good quality smoky paprika (get some from a market or specialty food store, it will be much better than the supermarket option)
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Form into balls of your desired size and cook on a hot barbecue, turning to cook on all sides. Drain on paper towel. I like a squeeze of lemon juice over them when done.

 

 

Halloween Gingerbread Men

These dismembered, bloodied and bandaged gingerbread men are so much fun to make and decorate. Make a whole batch of all one design, or mix them up. The gingerbread recipe is one I have used for years from a Donna Hay magazine, but I add a little fresh ginger to it for extra taste and zing, and reduce the sugar a little.

Makes approx 12 gingerbread men.

For the gingerbread men:

• 2.5 cups plain flour
• 125 g soft butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup golden syrup
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger (powdered)
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger

For the icing:

• 1 egg white
• 1 cup icing sugar
• red and black food colouring (get the good quality gel pastes from a specialty store, you won’t get great colour from the supermarket ones)

Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until creamy. Add the golden syrup and beat until combined. Add the fresh grated ginger. Sift the flour, bicarb soda and powdered ginger and mix until combined.  Knead to form a dough, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for half an hour.

Heat the oven to 190c.

Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper until roughly half a centimetre thick. It will be quite crumbly and this is normal.

Cut out the gingerbread men using a cutter. Tip: dip the cookie cutter in flour to stop it sticking to the dough.

Slash your gingerbread men according to your fancy, carefully lift them onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, and cook for 10-12 minutes.

Allow to cool on a rack completely before icing.

Mix the icing sugar and egg white until a smooth, thick paste forms. You don’t want it too runny so add more icing sugar until you have a workable, thick consistency.

Divide icing into three bowls, add the red food colouring to one, and the black to another.

Using a small tipped icing nozzle, or a plastic icing syringe from a specialty store, ice your biscuits as you please.

A few tips:

• If you can, have three nozzles and bags so you don’t have to do all one colour first, then rinse and do the next colour.
• You can also use small ziplock plastic bags with a tiny piece of the corner snipped off.
• Have a damp clean cloth on hand for fixing mistakes, and some toothpicks will also come in handy.
• Use wine and champagne glasses to stand the pieces in while waiting for the icing to dry, or ooze over the body artistically.
• Have a biscuit to practice on, wipe away mistakes with a clean damp cloth, or wait for small mistakes to dry and scrape them off. This will be tricky with the coloured ones, they will leave a smudge.

Chicken and Potato Curry with Coconut, Lime and Cinnamon

When it comes to curries, I find it hard to stick to the rule book. This curry is really a hybrid: southern Indian, Malay, Thai. Who cares. It’s easy to make (in spite of the long list of ingredients), aromatic and utterly delicious.

Serves 3-4

• 500g skinless chicken drumsticks (I like the chicken to simmer in the curry on the bone, which makes it tender. If you prefer, use sliced chicken fillets)
• 3 medium sized potatoes (any variety in season will do)
• 1-1.5 cups coconut milk
• 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• fresh coriander

Curry paste:

• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• about 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 1 red birdseye chilli, seeds included (1 chilli will make it mildly spicy; use more or less, depending on taste)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cummin
• juice of one lime

Preheat oven to 180c (you can use oven or stovetop – I prefer oven as you don’t have to keep checking so often).

Peel and cut potatoes into just bigger than bite sized pieces.

Place all the curry ingredients in a food processor and process until a chunky paste.

Heat some oil in a flameproof casserole dish (or large heavy based saucepan/pot if doing on the stove).

Add the paste to the heated oil, stir for a minute or two (stand back a little, it will make your eyes water!)

Add the chicken, coat in the curry paste, and cook for about 5 minutes, turning. Add the potato pieces and coat in the mixture. Stir over heat for a minute.

Add the tomatoes, coconut milk, lime leaves, and cinnamon sticks. Stir to combine. Place in oven for at least one hour, but no more than 1.5. Check throughout to see if it needs a little water or extra coconut milk. When cooked,  the meat should come easily away from the bone.

If cooking on the stove top, reduce the heat to as low after adding the last ingredients, simmer for an hour, stirring about every 15 minutes to stop the bottom sticking, adding more liquid if needed.

When cooked, remove the meat off the bones if you want to, or serve on the bone.

Served with steamed rice and chopped coriander.

Cavalo Nero Omelette with Feta and Dill

Cavalo nero is in season, it’s ludicrously good for you, and it’s versatile and delicious. What’s not to like? I picked up a bunch at the market yesterday and I woke up craving it this morning.

This is a breakfast that will make you feel good all day.

If you can’t get cavalo nero, use silverbeet instead.

Serves 1

• 2 eggs
• 3-4 cavalo nero leaves
• 1 small shallot (spring onion), finely sliced
• About a teaspoon of chopped fresh dill
• A chunk of feta – about a quarter of a cup
• 1/4 cup water

Step 1.

Cook the cavalo nero. Wash the leaves, place in a saucepan with about an inch of water in the bottom, put a lid on, and cook over a medium for about 10 minutes. The leaves will steam soft.

Step 2.

While the leaves are steaming, in a bowl, beat the eggs, dill, shallots, feta and water to combine. Season with pepper, you shouldn’t need salt as the feta will take care of that.

Step 3.

Remove the leaves from the pot and drain. Chop and add to the egg mixture.

Step 4.

Heat some oil in a frying pan with a lid. Pour the mixture in, turn heat down to low, place a lid on the top and let it cook for about 5-7 minutes, checking to make sure it’s not burning and that it’s cooking through. You can turn it if you like, but I don’t like to risk breaking it, so I put the pan under the grill for a few minutes at the end.

I like to serve this with something fresh and contrasting, like a tomato, basil and balsamic salad.

 

Venison and Juniper Berry Pies with Rosemary Crust

A mate of mine grumbled recently that I have too many vegetarian recipes on my blog. I’m unapologetic about this. I think most of us could do with eating less meat. And if you do eat meat, game meat is leaner and healthier. It’s not easy to come by, but most markets have a game section.

I’m lucky enough to have a farmers’ market on my doorstep, and I picked up some venison mince this morning. My mind was on food to take to the footy tonight, and I thought it would make a lovely pie. Juniper berries are a great accompaniment to game meat. If you can’t get hold of venison, use another game meat. Duck would be wonderful. You could cut corners by buying frozen shortcrust pastry at the supermarket.

I just can’t wait to have these pies with a glass of red at the footy tonight.

Makes approx 8 medium sized pies (bigger than a party pie, smaller than a footy pie)

Shortcrust pastry:

• 2 and a half cups plain flour
• 120 g cold, unsalted butter, diced
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon rosemary salt (see below)
• 1/3 cup ice cold water

Filling:

• 600 g venison mince
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1 inner celery stalk & inner yellow leaves, finely sliced
• ½ teaspoon dried sage
• 20 juniper berries, crushed in the pestle & mortar
• 1/3 cup red wine
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1.5 tablespoons cornflour, dissolved in 1 cup water
• rosemary salt & pepper

Topping:

• About 3 sheets frozen puff pastry
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

To make the rosemary salt:

Pound a small handful of fresh rosemary with some salt in the pestle & mortar until the salt has turned green. Sift and discard what’s left in the sieve.

To make the pastry:

Put the flour, butter and salt in a food processor and combine until a fine sandy texture. Add the egg and slowly drizzle in the water, until a ball starts to form.

Remove, form into a ball, and wrap in cling wrap. Flatten a little, and refrigerate.

To make the filling:

Saute the onion in olive oil until soft, add the celery, carrot, sage and juniper berries. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add the mince, and stir it around until brown. Add the wine and let it reduce for a minute. Add the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, cornflour & water, and season to taste with some of the rosemary salt and some pepper. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 c.

Remove the pastry from the fridge, and divide in two pieces. Roll out one piece on a clean floured surface, until about half a centimeter thick.

Place one of your pie dishes on the pastry and cut out around a centimeter around it. You want some to hang over so that when it shrinks there will still be enough pastry. Place in the pie dishes, pressing in to the corners. Repeat until finished.  Prick the bottoms with a fork a few times and bake for 10 minutes. (I find with small pie cases you don’t need to worry about covering with foil and weighing down with uncooked rice or pastry weights, but if you’re making a large pie, do this).

When they have cooled a little, trim any excess pastry from the edges. Spoon the filling into the pie cases.

Take your sheets of puff pastry out of the freezer and using a bowl just slightly bigger than the top of your pie, cut out the required amount of shapes.

Brush the “lids” with some egg around the edge so it will stick well to the pie bottom. Put in place, press down with your fingers onto the top of the pie crust and trim any excess.

Brush the tops with egg. Make a little pastry topping like a leaf, if you like. I happened to have a little reindeer cookie cutter from my Christmas baking, which was a happy discovery!

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the top is puffed and golden.

A Food Blogger Writes About Football

So what does food have to do with football, and why would I write about it here? There’s no connection really. I just think about football a lot.

I’m a relative newcomer to AFL. I moved to Melbourne from Sydney in 1999, where my interest in Rugby League had been perfunctory. The few games I had been to were an ordeal. The typical crowd member was aged 18-45, white, straight, and male. Is it the cheerleaders, guys?

It was a revelation to come to Melbourne and find that all the women in the office were in the footy tipping competition, and to go to a game of football and see many different faces. It was a great experience to feel included.

I got my first inkling that there may be something about AFL that was so much better than NRL.

My mate Karen and I had moved to Melbourne at the same time, and after a year, decided to support the Western Bulldogs. Really though, the Dogs chose us. By the time we got to the end of the 2000 season, it was never going to be any other team. They didn’t win much, but they had what we were looking for: heart, soul, spirit, guts. There was an emotional connection that we couldn’t ignore. We just loved them.

Many people have asked my why I chose a team that had only won one Premiership, 45 years earlier. I just shake my head at such comments. That Bullldogs supporters are so passionate when they have so rarely been rewarded with the game’s highest prize is what I admire about the Club’s culture: loyalty, and the sheer determination to survive and keep going.

Fast forward 11 years and still no Premiership.

This year, after so much promise in the previous two, my Club has simultaneously raised my hopes, dashed them, restored them, broke my heart, inspired me, thrilled me, frustrated, delighted and devastated me.

Bulldogs supporters always talk about next year and it’s something of a cliché to do so, but many things point to a better 2012. Electrifying new talent, recovery from injuries; the best form of their careers of some of our senior players, and a new broom with whoever will be our coach.

But one thing will never be the same again at the Western Bulldogs.

Since his switch to the Bulldogs two years ago, Barry Hall has been embraced by the Bulldogs faithful as though he’d always been one of ours. Many players divide fans, but I’ve never heard of a Bulldogs supporter who doesn’t love Barry.

How can we not? Sure it’s easy to love the guy who kicks a bag just about every game, but it’s not just that. He adds excitement, class and a rare kind of presence to the game. At times, like a caged lion on the field, but never off.

The big lovable bugger is going to leave a hole in all our hearts. Today, I’ll be taking my son to watch Barry play his last game, and I don’t expect to get through the day with dry eyes.

I sometimes find myself wondering why I love AFL so much. I guess it’s because in my adopted home, I feel part of something now, a connection that’s tribal.

But it’s also that in a city obsessed with one sport – the greatest spectator sport in the world – I’ve found a Club that gives me a lump in my throat like nothing else.

For Barry Hall, Mitch Hahn, and Ben Hudson. Thanks guys.

Diary: The $10/Day Food Challenge for East Africa

This diary relates to my previous post.

I’m costing what I eat each day, including meals I make for my son, to see if we can live on $10 a day for all food and drink, (including alcohol – !). At the end of the week I will donate the balance between what I’ve lived on and what I budgeted for.

I hope to also demonstrate that you can eat nutritious and decent food on a small budget.

The costings are my rough estimates. I am costing all meals even where I have used ingredients I had already purchased, or food acquired at no cost – eg food given to me by friends, or eaten at work or other functions. The amount costed for each meal represents only what was consumed at that meal, not the total cost of making the dish.

Anyone can take up this challenge at any time that suits them.

 

SOME CONCLUSIONS

Although on most days I went a little over my target, I felt really pleased overall with how I did. The point of the task that I set is to make the daily amount a goal – if you go a little over, it’s not failure. Look at it as a realisation of the difference in our lives, where $10 (or whatever amount you have chosen) seems so little, yet for so many it is a significant amount of money. Think about how you’ve begun to appreciate things differently. Take what you’ve learnt about living on less and try and apply it to daily life beyond the challenge. That’s what I’ve tried to do.

All up, my total for the 7 days came to nearly $77. My typical household budget is pretty frugal to start with, but if I factor in the occasional coffee, glass of wine out, or a takeaway Asian or sushi that I might have normally had in a week, a typical week’s food budget would have been about $130. So I’ll be donating the difference.

Things that were hard: trying to come up with meals that were cheap but diverse. If I do it again, I will put more planning into it. I was sick of lentils by the end of the week – and I love lentils! Also, if I’d had a social engagement during the week it would have been a blowout. If you are going to do the challenge and this happens to you, extend it by one more day to compensate. There is no point doing this and beating yourself up over it, or making it impossible to try and stick to.

Things I am proud of: realising we could have fish and chips, and pizza, for under $10 a day. It really is possible, and in fact, the fast food you make at home is not only cheaper, it’s so much better!

DAY 7 – SATURDAY

Breakfast: Boiled eggs, toast, an orange $2

Lunch: Cheese toasties, fruit bun $1.20

Afternoon tea: apple 70c

Dinner: Homemade pizza with fresh ricotta and roast broccoli – $3; bottle of Aldi Shiraz/Merlot $2.50

Total: $9.40

Comment: How on earth do takeaway pizza places manage to stuff it up so badly? And why do people buy it? Homemade pizza is just so much better and a fraction of the cost. I bought some fresh ricotta at La Latteria on Elgin Street in Carlton – they make it on the premises – and it was utterly divine with the roast broccoli. To make your own tomato sauce – saute an onion until golden, add the garlic, some herbs such as basil, sage or oregano, two tins of diced tomatoes and salt & pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes, puree. Freeze what you don’t use.

DAY 6 – FRIDAY

Breakfast – Cereal and strawberries, toast, tea $1.80

Morning tea: fruit bun 30c

Lunch: Leftover spaghetti (my son); burek from the Queen Vic Market (me) $3.30

Dinner: Beer battered leatherjacket, roasted bintje potato chips, roast broccoli $5.50

Total: $10.90

Comment:  Three cheers for the Queen Vic Market, where I was able to pick up broccoli for $2/kilo, really cheap bintje potatoes, and leatherjacket for $6.80/kilo. I felt triumphant making fish n chips for $5 for two serves, although I had to fillet my own fish to do it.  Leatherjacket is an affordable and sustainable fish – get on it. I went over my limit with my burek purchase, but I can’t resist them, and at $2.50 they are best value lunch you can get.

DAY 5 – THURSDAY

Breakfast: Coffee & toast – 80c

Morning tea: Fruit buns – 60c

Lunch: Lentil & vegetable soup $1

Afternoon tea: Lemon slice, apple $1

Dinner: Spaghetti with bolognaise & spinach sauce pulled out of the freezer (my son), aglio e olio (me); a few glasses of wine $13.70

Total: $17.10

Comment: So sick of lentils rice and beans! The spaghetti was a welcome change. Bit of a blowout with the wine, but a friend dropped round and it had been a tough day. Also I’m realising that other than the soup, we’ve been very light on fresh vegies. Must fix that tomorrow.

DAY 4 – WEDNESDAY

Breakfast: Porridge with blueberries, milk, and honey; cup of tea $1.40

Morning tea: homemade fruit buns (1 each) – 60 c

Lunch: salad of brown rice, tuna, tinned beans, herbs, 1 small child’s yoghurt, piece of dark chocolate – $3.80

Afternoon tea: half an orange, crackers, cheese and olives. $1.70

Dinner: lentil & vegetable soup. $2

Total: $9.60

Comment: A bit groundhog dayish, but it’s been a busy working week and I need to use up the soup and rice, and I’ve stayed within budget.

DAY 3 – TUESDAY

Breakfast: cereal, toast and 1 boiled egg (my son), cup of coffee (me) $1.80

Morning tea: homemade fruit buns (1 each) – 60 c

Lunch: salad of brown rice, tuna, tinned beans, herbs, egg and olive (both of us), 1 small child’s yoghurt  - $4.20

Afternoon tea: half an orange; 3 wholewheat crackers; small piece of dark chocolate $1.20

Dinner: lentil & vegetable soup; leftover chicken, broccoli & rice noodle stir fry; another fruit bun. $2.80

Total: $10.60

Comment: Making a batch of fruit buns on Monday night (left overnight to rise, baked on Tuesday morning in 20 minutes while getting ready for school/work) was a great cost saver. Buying them anywhere else is around $1-$2 per bun but you can make them for about 30c a piece (and they are soooo good!). The brown rice and nicoise tuna salad tossed with mayonnaise was healthy and delicious, although my son didn’t have the olives in his. Lentil soup for dinner topped off a healthy day’s eating. I could have left out a few ingredients in the salad and kept under budget, but I’m happy with our efforts today.

DAY 2 – MONDAY

Breakfast: Porridge made with frozen blueberries, honey & milk; cup of coffee. $1.50

Morning tea: Apple 80 c

Lunch: White bean & vegetable soup (frozen leftovers); piece of lemon slice (thanks Karen!). $3

Pre dinner: Crackers, cheese and olives. $1.50

Dinner: Rice noodle, chicken & broccoli stir fry (using leftover chicken from soup); lentil & veg soup with cavalo nero $4

Total: $10.80

Comment:  I went a bit over today because I didn’t make it to the Vic Market to get fresh food on Sunday. But
 I made a big pot of my lentil & vegetable soup with the last of the vegetables I had in the fridge tonight. It will keep me going for the next few days, plus it’s delicious and extremely nutritious. Lentils are high in soluble fibre and protein, and low in fat. And cavalo nero is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat.

DAY 1 – SUNDAY

Breakfast: Porridge made with frozen blueberries, honey & milk; cup of tea. $1

Lunch: Chicken and avocado sandwich on multigrain bread; cup of coffee. $3.50

Dinner: Leftover chicken noodle soup and leftover lentil shepherd’s pie. $4

Total: $8.50

Comment: So far so good. Oats are a great cheap breakfast and are fantastically healthy (a low GI carbohydrate that lowers cholesterol). When you combine them with a few blueberries, they make a powerhouse of a start to your day. I haven’t had to cook yet as I’ve had enough leftovers in the fridge.