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

Australian bush foods are always something that have intrigued me, but I’ve never really known what to do with them. This month’s Spice is Right is about using a locally grown spice in combination with fresh and local produce, in a dish that reflects the flavours of home. This month I was in the mood for experimenting and thought it was time to try out something new – a native spice. Many of the bush foods and spices are …

Read more 16 August, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Dinners, Dairy, Grains, Spring, Vegetables and Recipes

I love cooking. Spending some time concentrated on beautiful ingredients and making a meal that both tastes good and is also healthy, is how I unwind. However, like most people, during the week I don’t want to faff around too much. If I can make something in 30 minutes and more importantly make minimal mess, then I’m happy. The ultimate mid-week meal for me, is one that contains all my food groups, including plenty of veg and most importantly, can …

Read more 26 September, 2006

Posted by kathryn in Legumes, Salads, Dinners, Dairy, Spring and Recipes

This was my dinner on Tuesday night. Richard was out and I wasn’t in a big cooking mood, but I still wanted something tasty, healthy and home-made. This salad fitted the bill. The original recipe prescribed tinned lentils, but I already had some dried to use up. Rather than fuss around cooking them on the stovetop, I thought I’d try cooking them in my rice cooker. I used one part lentils to three parts water, added a pinch of …

Read more 08 February, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Dairy

An article in last week’s Herald and UK Independent reported on research by the Harvard School of Public Health, showing a link between milk intake and acne. This study, undertaken by Walter Willet and his team, used information from the large-scale Nurses Health Study II, which examined the diet and lifestyle of about 47,000 women. A link was found between women who had acne and those who drank a lot of milk. The Harvard team has theorised that hormones …

Read more 21 May, 2007

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

I recently asked the question what’s your perfect mid-week meal and received some interesting and useful responses. I had assumed everyone would be after speed and minimal preparation, but readers also commented they were looking for ways to use up leftovers, meals to freeze and how to recycle last night’s dinner into something new and fabulous. I’m still mulling over these answers, but they have persuaded me I need to tweak my recipe categories, as well as alter how …

Read more 30 May, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Labels & advertising and Dairy

Today is the inaugural Q & A Thursday – your weekly opportunity to get answers to all those niggling nutrition, food and diet questions. h3. Question Matt asks about “lite” yoghurts, following the release of a new Choice report – are they good for you and what exactly qualifies as “lite”. I have to say that food labelling is one of my favourite topics, so I’m very happy to be starting off with this question. h3. Light / lite yoghurts …

Read more 31 May, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Myths, Nutrition and Dairy

Fiona asks: bq. Cow’s milk. Nutritionally beneficial? Or only beneficial for baby cows? While cow’s milk is sometimes painted as the nutritional equivalent of an anti-christ, I don’t have a problem with it, as long as you can tolerate it. h3. Nutritional breakdown Nutritionally, cow’s milk is made up of the following: * 87% water * 3.3% protein * 3.8% fat * 4.6% carbohydrate * No fibre And 100ml of milk also contains: * 120mg calcium * 158mg potassium …

Read more 28 June, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Dairy and Vegetables

The only thing against my dinner last night, no leftovers. However, I was so smitten with the fetta and yoghurt combination I made some more and had it on my salad for lunch today – this time with finely chopped mint mashed through. Also delicious.

Read more 30 May, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Breakfast, Dairy, Grains, Labels & advertising and Junk Food

• Overseas action on junk food advertising to kids: tomorrow the UK parliament is having its second reading of a bill aimed at preventing the advertising on TV of foods high in fat, sugar and sodium before 9pm (when in theory young children have stopped watching and gone to bed). * According to Rudd Sound Bites, Starbucks in the US is about to make reduced fat milk the standard in a lot of its drinks. * I like this breakfast …

Read more 08 June, 2007

Posted by kathryn in Dairy, Labels & advertising, Fish, Vegetables and Ethics & Sustainablity

• Lamb, cauliflower and spices: Interesting looking Middle Eastern inspired dish with no name from Spice and More_. There’s eggplant, pine nuts, some lovely spices and a good idea for including cauliflower – especially if it’s not your favourite veg. * Ethics in advertising: There’s been a fair bit of criticism PETA and one of their advertising campaigns recently. Here’s a piece from Rudd Sound Bites, Yoni Freehoff’s perspective at Weighty Matters and PETA’s response at The Huffington Post269353.html. * …

Read more 25 September, 2009

Posted by kathryn in Dairy

I was asked recently if butter was better for you, because it it was a “natural wholefood”. This question made me pause, because you know what, I think we’re in serious danger of over-sentimentalising butter. Butter used to be made on individual farms, by people churning the extra cream from their milk. Some people still make it this way for their own use and there are also small artisan producers who are continuing this tradition of hand made butter. However …

Read more 13 March, 2012