My Boyfriend Made Dinner Once

He made me a vegetarian one.

It was nice, I wish he'd do it again.

Hint hint.

.. look how bright it was at dinner time. Come back Summer!

Stay well,
Nat x

Stuff I Cooked / Time to Clean

Firstly, here is a collection of some of what I've cooked over the past week or two.


A vegetarian version of Spaghetti Puttanesca (Wholemeal Spaghetti with a red sauce of capers, green olives & chilli)M is not a fan, so I have this when he's not home for dinner.Wholemeal pasta is higher in fibre & more filling than the white stuff, and the sauce has almost no fat in it (a spray of olive oil to fry the garlic a little). Of course the parmesan is there purely for it's very high calcium content.



My version of spaghetti & meatballs, for M. I just ate a big plate of the pasta.




Chocolate patty cakes I made whilst under the charming influence of red wine because I felt like something sweet. I burnt myself rather badly, but they were tasty.




My breakfast this morning.
Sunday always calls for a big brekky.




Chickpea & Sweet Potato Curry. I have a reputation for this stuff & this is the first time I made it in our new home!I make my famous curry using Carnation Light & Creamy Coconut flavour. Coconut milk & cream is incredibly high in fat, even if you get your hands on a reduced fat one, and in dishes like curries where the flavours are strong, you won't even notice it's not the real thing.




Lentil soup & home made garlic & herb pizza.This was tonights dinner. I am a fan of a light dinner on a Sunday night and M is starting to enjoy it, too.Please forget packaged pizza and garlic bread, if you're going to eat something fatty or bread-y, it's better knowing what's in it by making it yourself.



Egg and butter free, (and consequently vegan), chocolate cake.This was for a family member's birthday who has to avoid too much fatty foods due to a recent health scare. I spoke to her before and she said it was very nice.
If you want to try it, here is the recipe;

Chocolate Cake (with no eggs or butter / vegan)
I;3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
3/4 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla
M;Preheat oven to 180c.
Thoroughly mix dry ingredients first (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt).
Mix in wet ingredients (water, vegetable oil, vinegar, and vanilla). Continue mixing until you obtain an even batter (no lumps).
Pour into a cake pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes.
It was super easy & made a super huge cake.


In other news, I have been eating very heavily and am aiming to do my version of a detox this week, especially as due to a bit of a beating to my system last week, I am having a break from exercise. I will try to document what I do when I want an internal clean up, but that pot of lentil soup I brewed for tonight's dinner will get a work out this week!
Happy Sunday Night & here's to a week of amazing food.
Stay well,Nat x

Roasted Roma & Tomato Pasta

Last week I stopped by Mum & Dad's on the way home from work to say hello and drop off some of the first crop of chilli's from our herb garden. Mum was flicking through old magazines before throwing them out and so I joined her when I spotted a feature on tomatoes in an old Woman's Day mag. I scanned over with my eyes and saw a recipe that included mint, which M has been nagging me to use as our herb garden is going crazy, (I will show you soon), and took it home to cook for dinner that night. I was a bit apprehensive, and worried M wouldn't eat it, (raisins in pasta! Non!), but I was very surprised at how tasty it turned out to be. I highly recommend, and I highly recommend adding the garlic as specified at the end.

Roasted Roma & Ricotta Pasta

Serves 4

(the recipe was written exactly as follows)

Preheat oven to hot, 200c.

Place 8 halved roma tomatoes on an oven tray. Season to taste.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until skin begins to blister.

Meanwhile, cook 375g of spaghetti in a pot of salted boiling water following packet instructions.

Drain well and return to pot.

Add tomatoes, 1/2 cup crumbled fresh ricotta, 1/2 bunch picked mint leaves and 1/4 cup raisins.

Season to taste.

Serve drizzled with extra olive oil and extra mint leaves.

Roast a few cloves of garlic with tomatoes. Remove skins, mash and add to pasta for extra flavour.

I used the low-fat tub ricotta that I had and stirred it through, and it still tasted great. I also found that with the addition of raisins, it didn't leave me wanting something sweet after dinner.

We enjoyed it with a glass of Chardonnay.

Stay well,

Nat x

Stuff I Cooked

Pistachio & Chilli Crusted Chicken



Beetroot Risotto



Spiced Lamb with Chickpeas & Cous Cous



I'm a terrible food photographer!
Any tips?

Stay well,
Nat x