Express chicken & corn soup

Hot off the cooker -
freshly made chicken & corn soup

With winter approaching you might have noticed already that I'm a lover for soup.

Chicken & sweet corn is one of my all time favourites and this recipe I got from Mum is so quick & easy that anyone can do it!

Ingredients
2 chicken breast fillets
2 onions
4 cups of boiling water
2 packet of chicken noodle soup (this depends on how strong you want the flavour, I actually used two today!)
1 tin of creamed corn
1 tin of corn kernels (or 1 cup of frozen)
Garlic & pepper to flavour

Method
Chop the chicken and onion finely and fry these
Add 4 cups of boiling water
Add the chicken noodle soup
Add 1 tin of creamed corn
Add one tin of corn kernels
Taste test
Add pepper & garlic (fresh or minced it doesn't matter) If unsure - I did a teaspoon of minced garlic 
Give it all a stir and......

DONE!

It is really that simple & it tastes delicious. Served with warm crusty bread it can be great for lunches or a light dinner. Pop this baby into a seal-lock container and heat it up for chilly days at work. Too easy!

A selection of delicious desserts

Many of my friends are amazing bakers and bellow are some of the

            delights my sweet tooth has been able to enjoy over the past few months.

Who else is hungry just looking at this post? 

Lemon meringue cupcakes

Goopy lemon curd in the middle - my favourite!

Served with coffee ice cream

Getting into the spirit of St. Patty's day with these green velvet cupcakes

These were actually mine! Blueberry muffins that went pop!

A boy made this! Home made sticky date pudding & vanilla ice cream, delish

You can't go wrong with a good ol fashioned chocolate slice!
Served with strawberries & a dollop of cream, this baby is a crowd pleaser!

That's right, my boyfriend bakes! AMAZING!
Raspberry chocolate brownie & sooo much of it too! Loved it!

Love is in the air with these cute cupcakes! I loveeeed my housemate for these babies!

Lemon meringue pie - need I say more?!

Trying to take credit, I can't but it was sooo yummy! Lemon fever!

ANZAC day biscuits are so easy to make & perfect with a cuppa

These bad boys were all me!...Em helped in "shaping" them into circles

Did I mention we had a Victorian High Tea? Yeahhhh it was the best! Sugar coma x 8

This little fella changed the way I view panna cotta.
White chocolate in flavour, served with raspberry sauce, fresh raspberries
& sprinkled with milk chocolate...So indulgent, so mouth-watering good!!!

Hmmm I wonder why I've put on weight since moving back down to Melbourne....surely it couldn't be from all of these scrumptious treats...could it??? Nahhhhhh, who cares anyway! Totally worth their weight in gold! I bet your feeling peckish now...me too! Lucky for me my housemate is already in the kitch baking macadamia and white chocolate cookies. How did I get so lucky? :)

Soup, Glorious Soup!

Rainy, cold and gloomy – that’s winter for you! As we all begin to eat extra to grow our personal winter coat, we crave warm, hearty food. Whilst I love chunky, carby meals just as much as the next person, sometimes a healthy soup can do the trick of warming, filling and leaving you guilt free.

This easy soup is very tasty and surprisingly filling.

Ingredients
1 x tbs light olive oil
500ml vegetable stock (or chicken)
2 tsp tomato paste
Frozen peas, carrot & corn
Celery – finely chopped
1 x 400g tin of lentils
1 x 400g tin of cannellini beans
1x 400g tin of diced tomatos
1 x tbs paprika
2 x tbs ground coriander
2 x tbs minced garlic
1 x tsb minced ginger

Lifesaving lentil soup
& only 237 calories - not that we're counting!

Method
1) Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat
Add the frozen peas, carrot, corn and celery
Add the tomato paste
Stir with a wooden spoon until softened

2) Drain and rinse the lentils and add them to the saucepan. Add the stock and bring to boil.

3) Add the tomato, beans, coriander, paprika, pepper, garlic and ginger. Allow to simmer with the lid off until soup thickens

Serve & enjoy!

Note – this soup is made in half an hour due to the small amount of vegetable stock and canned lentils which are already cooked. For more watery soup add more stock.

Link to original recipe - http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/27177/lifesaving+lentil+soup 

My lovely housemate enjoying the benefits
of freshly home cooked soup

A classy start

As many of you already know from my travel blog last year that focussed hugely on food, my constant food related Facebook uploads, tweets and Instagram photos, I am food obsessed. Did someone say food?

In order to provide an outlet for my fixation, I am writing this blog to help save my friends from constant uploads, lengthy discussions and related statuses – unless of course they opt to tune into my blog and be inspired with me by the wonders of food and quality cooking. Lets be honest, I’ll probably do both….sozza!

So, now I will commence my first post which centres around Echuca’s top restaurant Oscar W’s Wharfside. Classy!

In celebration of our three year milestone, Rils & I treated ourselves to a Sunday night dinner at this sophisticated restaurant that features in The Age Good Food Guide 2012 and is the recipient of the prestigious chef’s hat.

Once seated, we began reminiscing on the ‘good ol days’ of complementary bread. We soon realised that this wasn’t as common in the past as we imagined and instead we were dreaming about life overseas in Europe where almost every café or restaurant insisted on offering bread and sometimes olives on the house. Ahhh..I miss traveling! To our surprise this delicious dinner addition appeared after our orders had been taken. Oscar, are you a mind reader? We are all encouraged to break bread and this is the perfect start to any meal and even something so small, really sets the standard for the evening ahead. Crusty bread, a dash of olive oil, cracked pepper, a pinch of salt and voila’, amazing – my taste buds are ready to go!

For main I had the kangaroo which is served rare with ‘pacdon park’ bacon, beetroot, mizuna, feta, tomato chutney and garlic toast. This is a hearty and homey meal – perfect for a chilly autumn night. Teamed with a glass of red wine this meal will warm you up and hug you from the inside out. Being such a lean meat you can feel good knowing that all this hugging won’t sit on your backside for too long.

Rils had the succulent duck which is twice cooked and complemented by cooked spinach, sweet quince, kipfler potatoes and grappa jus. This dish is my personal favourite of Oscars and never disappoints. Juicy, flavoursome and filling, it is a constant winner that maintains quality throughout the year with subtle but effective changes for the various seasons.

To harmonize our meal we also had a side of hand cut chips with Murray River salt. Served with garlic aioli, these little babies will leave your mouth watering and wanting more!

Crusty bread, delicious main and salty chips filled us up and left us so satisfied that we decided to pass on dessert – for once! Oscar W’s you never disappoint. Creative food, a cosy setting and picturesque surrounds on the Murray River, you are assured to have a brilliant night with high quality food and friendly, professional waiters.

Duck twice cooked

Beautiful wooden decor, open fire & mood lighting

Oscar W's Wharfside              Restaurant