Roast Pumpkin Soup {Recipe}

Have you ever read the ingredients on a can of soup? Pretty scary huh? I have got into a bit of a habit lately of eating canned soup for lunch, healthier than some other alternatives but still not terribly good for me. The other day it occurred to me that I can save money, and do something for my health by just making up a big batch of soup and freezing it in meal-sized portions.

I know, revelationary right! Don't sass me, I've had a lot on my mind :)

Soup is one of the easiest things in the world to cook, and one of the healthiest things in the world to eat- there are at least three serves of vegetables in this one little bowl.

Super Semifreddo {Recipe}

Ice cream is one of my favourite foods, along with hot chips, crisps, burgers and pizza (my Disney princess name is Carberella). 

I love ice cream, from the cheapish 2 litre supermarket variety (topped with either milo, or honey and cinnamon- chai style:) to the $7 a cup artisan gelato. Homemade ice cream is a fantastic, very affordable treat but it can be quite time consuming (making the custard then chilling it, churning, freezing) and I have one of those old-school ice cream makers that you have to remember to freeze the day before. 

Enter semifreddo. 

Creamy and delicious and can be made in less than half an hour (plus about 6-8 hours freeze time).

Spinach and Cheese pastries {Recipe}

For Melbourne Cup day the staff from The Wine Shop With No Wine got together for a BBQ. In Australia when the invitation says 'please bring a plate' we translate that to mean please bring 2 or 3 plates or at least enough food for 4 people. When 10 people gather and each do that, yep, you've got the maths right- there will be enough food for at least 40. Not to be conquered, one does one's best to eat a bit of everything.

The next day my stomach muscles were hurting- my brain immediately jumped to “woohoo girl, you did some serious sit-ups yesterday” then I remembered I did none. My muscles were hurting from being stretched by a food baby (not to mention wine). Too much information?

Old fashioned cake (with new fashioned icing)

You may have gathered by now that my preferred recipes have less than 10 ingredients. As soon as I see a huge list of things I have to shop for and weigh and measure, my interest wanes. It helps that my favourite foods are simple dishes with clean flavours..... although I'm not sure how that applies to what I am about to write about. Cake.

I had planned to visit a friend that has been having a tough time lately and, well, cake is known for it's restorative properties:) I also love the idea of cupcakes but am usually disappointed with them when I buy them. Plus it is artistically satisfying to make cute little cakes, so here is a super easy and quick cupcake recipe. I should add it is not MY recipe, it is handwritten on a slip of paper in my recipe folder from who knows when or who and is for a cake, not necessarily cupcakes.

You will need:
 2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
3/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup milk
125g butter, melted, cooled
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence