Posted by kathryn in Blogging and Grains

And if you do have a problem with gluten, have a look at one of my favourite blogs: Gluten-Free Girl . Shauna’s blog is one of the most beautifully written that I’ve come across. She’s based in the States, so some of the brands aren’t available here, but her blog is packed full of thoughts, recipes and information about living, cooking and eating gluten free. There are also links to a whole lot of other gluten-free sites and resources.

Read more No comments 26 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Grains

Melbourne is having its first ever gluten-free and wheat-free food show – what a great idea! It’s a public Food Expo showcasing only gluten free foods with about 100 exhibitors. Melbourne Exhibition Centre 9.00-5.00pm Saturday 12th August. For more details go to the website: www.coeliac.com.au .

Read more No comments 26 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Ethics & Sustainablity

As part of the Christmas menu I’ve been planning and testing over the last couple of days, I’ve been researching which are the best fish to use, in terms of sustainability. While Australia has a vast fishing area, as with other countries, our fish stocks are being rapidly depleted. Many of the fish on sale are from over-fished stocks, or have not been caught in a sustainable way. I found a good article on the ABC’s website. It includes a …

Read more No comments 20 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegan, Legumes, Soups, Recipes and Winter

I’ve had a rather strange time the last two days. It’s cold, wet and windy in Sydney, but I’ve been working on Christmas recipes for one of the magazines I write for. So while I’m planning and testing recipes using asparagus, mango, strawberries and other lovely summer foods, I’m also rugged up at home with the heaters on. The summer ingredients are beautiful, but all I want is soup. I’ve finished the batch of lentil soup I made the other …

Read more 2 comments 20 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Lifestyle

It’s been cold and wet in Sydney the last couple of days and while we need the rain, it’s definitely not the sort of weather most Sydney-siders like. So it’s a good time for the NSW Transport Minister to launch a winter health initiative – encouraging people to limit coughing and sneezing on public transport. Sounds simplistic, but most of the winter lurgies are spread by droplet infections – ie by tiny particles that are projected far and wide every …

Read more No comments 20 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Fruit

Given the horrendous price of bananas in Australia following tropical cyclone Larry, Chris&Craig at Triple J have decided to sell a banana on ebay – bids are currently up to $275! (All money is going to SIDs). For those not quite up to that budget, banana prices are set to climb even more over the next few weeks as the weather cools in Coffs Harbour. Yep they’re going higher than the current $13 – $15 per kilo. However prices should …

Read more 3 comments 19 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Nutrition

I’ve been looking through the Healthy Eating Club website over the past few days. I do find all the blinking and flashing graphics somewhat annoying, but if you can get past them there’s some good information. The club/website was started by Professor Mark Wahlqvist, who is Director of the Asia Pacific Health & Nutrition Centre at Monash University and has written a number of the leading nutrition texts. There’s lots of information and resources including a long list of "nutrition …

Read more No comments 19 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Blogging

I’ve been doing a bit of housekeeping with my recipe categories. Before they were all lumped together in one group, but it’s obvious that’s not going to work. Instead I’ve seperated them out into different groupings like main dishes, 15 minute recipes, soups, salads and so on. Hopefully this more is more useful for everyone.

Read more No comments 19 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Labels & advertising, Myths and Fruit

Potato chips are a better snack than biscuits I saw the report of this misconception in the weekend herald – because they’re made from a vegetable, potato chips are a better snack. While biscuits are in now way an ideal snack, potato chips are worse. They’re chock-a-block full of fat, with a 50g packet containing about 15g of fat and just over 1,000 kJ. Most plain biscuits are lower than this, a fat free yoghurt is about 400kJ, while …

Read more No comments 18 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Legumes, Soups, Eggs, Recipes, Spring, Summer and Autumn

One thing I love about blogs is the way they connect people. Different countries and cultures share interests and experiences via blogs. For example in the food blogging community there are a whole series of events, where participants cook and photograph food, all based around a theme. One of these food blogging events is called the Spice is Right and it’s hosted by Barbara at Tigers&Strawberries. The latest theme ingredient is chillies and this is my entry. Chillies are …

Read more 17 comments 16 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Legumes and Vegan

So having talked about why legumes are so good for you, it’s time to post about how to cook them. While tinned beans and lentils are really convenient and I always have some in the cupboard, soaking and cooking them from scratch is definitely cheaper. It also means you can cook the legumes to exactly the texture and taste that you want – whether that be soupy or more crunchy. Cooked legumes freeze really well, so I always make more …

Read more 4 comments 13 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Legumes

I’ve been cooking and eating a lot of legumes recently. That’s pretty normal for me and something I often encourage my clients to do. Most people would benefit from eating more legumes. h3. What’s a legume? Legumes or pulses are a group of foods that include lentils, chick peas, soya beans, red kidney beans and broad beans. They come from the pods of plants in the leguminosae family – hence the name legumes and are the seeds of these plants. …

Read more No comments 12 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Nutrition and Miscellanea

I have been talking today about folate – what it’s used for, why we need it, where we get it from and so on. My next article in Wellbeing magazine is also on folate. Folate is one of the B vitamins (B9), which we all need, it’s integral to DNA replication, cell growth and repair, as well as the formation of red blood cells. Folate is found in a wide variety of foods including lentils and legumes, green leafy vegetables, …

Read more 2 comments 11 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegan, Legumes, Dinners, Recipes and Winter

Since reading Jocelyn’s post about cabbage dal over at She Spills the Beans, I’ve been slightly obsessing about making this dal. I love, love, LOVE dal and we’ve always got a few tubs of it in the freezer. While I often include silverbeet in my dal and despite being a huge cabbage fan, I’ve never made dal with cabbage. After receiving reasurrances from Jocelyn about how good it was, I decided to make some over the weekend. This was …

Read more 3 comments 11 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegan, Legumes, Soups, Recipes and Winter

Since starting my blog I’ve only posted two recipes. It’s not like I haven’t been cooking, I just don’t feel I’ve been cooking anything particularly interesting. Then I was thinking, maybe that’s missing the point. There are plenty of places where you can get recipes for fancy and unusual food, stuff that takes time, lots of ingredients and skill to cook – the food we might make if someone was coming round for dinner. However it’s the normal, every …

Read more 3 comments 07 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Lifestyle

One of the things that always drops off during winter is physical activity. It’s too cold in the morning to get out of bed, while it’s cold and dark in the evening, so it’s that bit harder to get out for a walk / run / bike ride. h3. Most people do less in winter On the weekend we do more sedentary activites, rather than being outside and active. We meet friends for a movie or coffee and cake. Whereas …

Read more No comments 05 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables, Eggs, Dinners, Recipes and Winter

What a cutie, this is a Barbara pumpkin and she appeared in my last Lettuce Deliver box. I was intrigued, as I’ve never heard of or seen Barbara pumpkins before. To me she looks like a cross between the shape of a butternut and the colour and markings of a jap pumpkin. On the inside she was a rich orange colour, much stronger than a butternut. Richard’s been calling her Barbarapapa since she arrived. I’m not sure I’d …

Read more 3 comments 05 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Vegetables and Nutrition

I was recently asked the question – if I eat plenty of fruit, do I also need to eat vegetables? This is a common question and gets asked from both directions (ie also, I eat vegetables, do I need fruit?). The short answer is YES, you need both fruit and vegetables, sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear. h3. Why do fruit and vegies matter? Fruit and vegetables are important because they supply a vast array of nutrients …

Read more 3 comments 03 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Blogging

And now we’ve clicked over into July, I have an archive !

Read more No comments 03 July, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Snacks

From the Sydney Morning Herald website, an interesting food definition, ultimate snack food. This is apparently a new snack which has been developed by Melbourne scientists. It’s a palm-sized parmesan cheese cracker, topped with organic mashed potato which contains two “natural” additives – an appetite suppressant and a natural compound that increases your liking of the product. Am I the only one that thinks this sounds horrendous?

Read more 3 comments 03 July, 2006