Making Delectable Healthy Meals for Your Family

Guest post by James Kim. James is a guest writer for foodonthetable.com. Food on the Table is a company that provides online budget meal planning services. Their goal is to help families eat better and save money.

Making Delectable Healthy Meals for Your Family

Eating junk food may be a common pastime, but consistently eating the wrong foods can lead to health complications later. You may wonder why so many healthy meals tend to taste like cardboard and find it difficult to find nutritious foods that you like. This does not always have to be the case, if you use a little creativity.

You don’t need to spend more time in the kitchen, and you don’t need specialized culinary training. You just need to change a few things. Below are some ways to liven up meals that are nutritious.

1. Get to Know Your Spices Better

There are more options to seasoning your food other than salt and pepper. Ground onion, chipotle powder, and variations of garlic can liven up any meal.

Let’s say you like chicken and potatoes. You could try broiling or baking these food products, instead of deep-frying them. Marinate the chicken in any seasoning such as jerk, southwestern, or teriyaki. Fries are delicious, but they are starchy and often cooked in too much oil, including butter or margarine. When you make fries, try to minimize the oil you use and try healthy oils like canola and olive. Oven-cooked fries are a good alternative for those watching their waistline. Cover raw, sliced potatoes in healthy oil, sprinkle on your favorite seasoning, and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. The fries you end up with will be good for you and taste great.

2. Decrease Your Portions

Many times our eyes are bigger than our stomach, which can lead to weight gain and wasted food. There is no need for that “stuffed” feeling. Get into the habit of measuring your food as well as taking time between bites. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that the longer you chew, the less you eat.

There is no need to starve yourself. Just enjoy your food, and push the plate away when you are full.

3. Be the Master of Your Kitchen

By cooking at home, you are in control of your portions. Restaurants tend to use plates larger than most used at home. Some even use platters that are much wider in size. By using small plates, you can measure how much food will be eaten. It does not hurt to eat at home on a weekend instead of dining out. Also, learn to use color for visual aesthetic and health benefits. Adding vegetables that are green, red, or orange will not only guarantee that you are getting more vitamins like Vitamin C and beta-carotene, but it will also guarantee that you are getting less fat and carbohydrates. Go online to find out which vegetables and fruits contain the nutrients you and your family may be missing out on. A good way to integrate more veggies is with meatless entrees. This Eggplant Parmigiana recipe is a perfect example of a healthy, meatless entree. Cook meals at home, and you’ll save money and get healthy!

Recipes for one person

I was on the Simply Great Meals site, which I have found nice recipes in the past, looking for recipes for sushi. I found these great recipes for one person using tuna tempters.

Tuna & Corn Quesadilla For One

Salmon, Olive & Caper Penne for One

Pasta Pronto for One

They have other recipes too here. They are not all tuna recipes.

Cookbook Suggestion

I found this cookbook in my pile of books, magazines and papers. Actually my husband did. It fits in so well with what we have been cooking and menu planning lately. A real treasure.

Lately we have been roasting tomatoes, roasting pumpkin slices and having sliced zucchini in pizzas on pita bread.

Though this book encourages you to buy products like Latina or Old El Paso items, still the rest of the ingredients are cheap. It even has a photo of a paella pan like the one I got for a blog prize.

It was published in 2003 for General Mills Australia. Sometimes you can get these type of books on ebay.

I am just amazed at the vegetarian versions. For example Vegetable Gorditas that includes broccoli (keep in mind I made a Mexican dish with pumpkin recently), Soft Tacos with Spicy Chargrilled Vegetables.

There is a really clear picture of Chimichangas.

The non-vegetarian recipe that I like is Nachos with Chicken & Olives. What a great variation to the one that our family makes, it uses a BBQ chook.

I have gone off Italian, but this book was great. Gnocchi with Parsley Olive Pesto & Grilled Cherry Tomatoes. We are eating rocket pesto that is homemade from a recent sausage recipe on my menu plan for lunch on toast. Lovely.

The soups look fabulous and there is a great recipe for Italian sausages which are hard to come by I feel. There is also the paella recipe that is a variation of our family's one which is from the McCormick spices site.

Life's good

A few days ago I had an exciting email arrive in my inbox. It was from Maree at buyster with a small b. I am familiar with buyster, because I had seen a mention of it on a blog I am following. I had looked at the post very carefully, wondering who is this buyster company. The post was about a light. I had seen lights like that before. The one I particularly like is a pendant light that buyster carry. Our builder lined a back porch in the property we bought two years ago. It is a sloped lined ceiling and the pendant I still like and enjoy. (Edited to say I actually have been a big buyer of these lights. I have even decided to buy two for my current home as well. I will be getting those from buyster. I have checked and they carry the ones I want.)

In fact I have two more lights to buy for that house, at least, and am going to look at all buyster's lights carefully, as I think they would do a better job of making sure the light arrives in good condition than my experience with ebay. Not that ebay is not a good way to buy lights, but there was a certain design that cracked. With buyster's experience, I imagine they don't carry them anyway if they are hard to ship.

So who are buyster?

"buyster is a joint venture between netus an Australian technology investment company and CSN Stores, one of the leading online retail companies in the USA.

Who are CSN Stores?

CSN Stores is one of the top 3 online retailers of home and office products in the USA. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Boston, it now employs over 400 people and achieved over US$200 million in sales in 2007. Read more about CSN Stores.

Who are netus?

netus is an Australian technology investment company. Backed by News Ltd, they have a range of experience in the Australian market and their leadership team have experience from some of the top online businesses in Australia - including Expedia and eBay. Read more about netus."

Why is it exciting? I spent ages on their site, and loved having a look around. First it started with the opportunity for me to receive something for my home so I was looking for something I may like. It didn't take long for me to spy a paella pan. You may have been aware, or some of my online readers would be aware, that I have been wanting one! Here it is!


I am going to be reviewing it on my blog! Can't wait. You can click on it to see more details, there is also an enamelled one. More about paella pans later. (I need the post space to rave on about them lol.)

One of the products that took my eye when I was looking around was the lamp that also holds an ipod here (you can see if it compatible with your type of ipod easily). The special mugs, and other name brands and the gorgeous glass bowls. Brands include Gordon Ramsey, Royal Dulton, Royal Albert, Noritake, Wedgwood & Le Creuset.

My property I mentioned before had to be handled a little like a property for development. We had a laundry with a retro twin laundry sink with old fashioned pipes running under the window. Our plumber suggested we cut a hold in that space at the back between the sinks and put in a mixer. I had to order it especially. buyster has those type of mixers, plus 34 sinks.

Looks like I nearly need three posts for this. I am not a great consumer but despite my slow internet speed at the moment (down loading pokemon movies) I found lots of things fascinating.

The bunk beds are interesting. I remember all my previous bunk bed buying experiences. One of the buyster ones (silver) reminds me of a shopping trip where I saw a silver bunk with a matching cute computer. It was fun probably because I wasn't actually shopping for bunks that day, it can be difficult with little kids as well as dealing with the financials, and travelling to get to a shop that still may only have a few bunk beds on display.

My sixteen year old daughter loved the futon on the buyster site.

If you have been always wanting to know where to find old fashioned doll's house furniture you will find it at buyster. It is an interesting modern site, but has so many things suitable for an older home. Also if you have a business you will find reception chairs and couches.

The things suitable for an older or country home are 1920s styled plant stands for inside for cast iron plants etc., hall stands and also telephone tables, so you can have new, not second hand, and the prices are around $600. Also an unusual Tiffany fireplace screen

For the property fixer uppers, a $219 bath tub and Retro medicine cabinets. I remember after selling my first home, how could I get another cabinet like that.

Anyway, I had fun, and I'm hooked. Stay tuned.

Recipe for Chili Plum Sausages

Out of desperation, I came up with this recipe adapted from one on the Taste website. We all enjoyed it and would make it again.

Our version of Warm Sausage Pasta Salad

500g dried penne pasta
100g green beans, trimmed, cut into 4cm lengths (optional)
8 lean beef chipolata sausages or 500g chili plum sausages
200g button mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 small red capsicum, finely chopped
400g can corn kernels, drained
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
100g baby spinach
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 onion thinly sliced

Method

Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, following packet directions, until tender. Add beans for last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain. Return to pan when the other ingredients are ready.

Meanwhile, heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add sausages. Cook, turning, for 6 to 8 minutes or until cooked through. (We slice them after they are partially cooked.)

Cook onion, add mushroom and capsicum to frying pan. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until capsicum is tender. Add mushroom mixture, sausage, corn, tomato, spinach, oil and lemon juice to pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Serve.

Adapted from Sausage Pasta Salad.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

This is a follow up to a previous post. This morning I was lucky enough to have someone add their knowledge of biscuits and gravy to my kitchen experiment of a few years back. I think some of my friends have tried to tell me about the ground pork before. I love what Australians call rissoles, not sure I have had them with ground pork, sounds really nice. Since rissoles are dry, gravy sounds like a great idea.

Because my experiment was made with sausage mince, that Aussies use to make sausage rolls, it would not have been the same. I believe my gravy and biscuits were fine though, as I used American recipes and had the ingredients.



If you think this video is not traditional or doesn't have the right special breakfast sausage ingredients please add your comments. I think probably the turkey is the obvious one. I did find this recipe and the pictures look good. Yum. Here is the matching biscuit recipe.

Simpsons Baking Book 1940

County Clare Cake

Green Tomato Pie

2 1/4 cups Self Raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup cold water (about)

Fie Filling:

6-8 full-grown but green tomatoes
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespons flour
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Sift flour with salt. Cut in half of the shortening until the mixture looks like meal. Add remaining shortening and continue cutting until particles are the size of a small pea. Add water gradually and mix lightly with a fork into dough - use as little water as possible. Divide dough into two parts. Roll to an 1/8 inch thickenss on floured board, rolling dough about 2 1/2 inchs larger than pie plate. Fit dough into pie plate. Mix together the sugar, flour, and nutmet and sprinkle part of this mixture into pastry lined plate. Add layer of thinkly sliced tomatoes, sprinkle with the sugar mixture and continue these layers until plate is full. Dot with the butter and sprinkle with lemon juice. Place the top crust in position. press the edges well together. Bake until the tomatoes are tender and the crust nicely browned, about 30 to 40 minutes in a hot oven (425 degs.). Makes 1 two-crust 9-inch pie. Serve warm with custard made from "Koala" Custard Powder.

I looked up Koala custard and there was an expensive secondhand tin, no picture. Well maybe another time. Apparently there were koalas on a branch.



Here is a mouth watering picture of a green tomato pie and a very interesting blog post from A Veggie Adventure.

Cream Scones

2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 teaspooon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup cream (all milk, or milk and water in equal parts)

Sift flour, sugar and salt two or three times. Place in mixing basin. Work in butter very finely. Add eggs well beaten (reserving a small amount of unbeaten egg white) and cream. Mix into soft dough. Toss on to floured board, and pat or roll to 3/4 -inch thickness. Cut into small squares, brush with reserved egg white, sprinkle with sugar and bake on ungreased tray in hot oven (450 degs.) 15 minutes.

As a farmer's daughter I was miffed as an adult when I heard about cream scones. I didn't know how to make them, and I love making scones. Any modern recipe won't do. This 1940s recipe is just the ticket. I figured that on our farm for example, being able to make scones from flour and the cream off the top of a milk jug in the fridge is fantastic. More frugal than buying the butter to make them. A lady here told me a fail safe recipe that I trust as well, I think it is the CWA recipe. Of course it is good because it is metric, and the above recipe is Imperial.

Here is a wonderful blog post about them (including picture of Aussie flour), and a larger recipe (I haven't compared them) from the ABC site.

Rhubarb Roly Poly

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
1 small bunch red rhubarb, finely chopped
1 sweet apple, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Sift flour, salt, and sugar into basin. Work in the butter. Add milk to make a soft scone dough. Roll to 1/4 inch thickness on floured board. Cover surface with chopped rhubarb and apple. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Brush edges with milk and roll up like a jam roll. Secure ends and place roll in a buttered pie-dish. Pour over the following Lemon Syrup: Boil 3/4 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar for 10 minutes. Add juice 1/2 lemon and 1 tablespoon butter, stir until the butter is melted and pour immediately over the roll. Bake in a moderately-hot oven (400 degs.) about 45 minutes, or until rhubarb is tender. Serve while hot with "Koala" Custard.

My Mum used to make jam roly-poly. She loved rhubarb and used it with tapioca?

Thimble Anchovy Scones

1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon Anchovy Paste
3 drops cochineal
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup milk

Sift flour and salt into mixing basin. Work in the butter finely. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Beat the egg yolk in a cup, add the anchovy paste and blend well. Add milk and cochineal. Add liquid ingredients to the flour mixture, all at once. Stir carefully with a fork until all the flour is dampened, then stir vigorously until a soft dough is formed. Turn on to a floured board and pat out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into circles with a very small cutter. Place on ungreased baking tray. Brush tops with melted butter or milk. Bake in hot oven (450 degs.) about 12 minutes. Serve scones hot, spread with butter lightly flavouried with anchovy paste.

I wonder if they mean something like Pecks paste? I always have that in our cupboard. I love anchovies. I also like anchovy sauce, for cooking. We ran out. I have since bought an Asian one, but in case they are not the same, not sure, I would like an English styled one one day. I found out it is an English tradition. On the internet you learn lots of things.






I found the instructions for the scones above were very good, like a cooking class, and the other recipes too. I use a knife as in knife and fork to mix my scone dough.

Scones Vs Biscuits

For all those outside the States who have read Little House on the Prairie and wondered what biscuits were, I'll let you know what I have learnt on my time on the net. Since blogging, the exchange of information seems to be speeding up. Still I have come across some interesting things in my love of biscuit research lol. I even tried with my limited knowledge at the time to make biscuits and gravy. To an Australian, putting white sauce on scones is... well I won't say. Thankfully these days, the Pioneer Woman has a picture with sausage. I am not sure if we can buy an equivalent in meat here. I used sausage mince, which we use to make sausage rolls. My understanding is now, perhaps sausage is just a flavoured mince? Who knows. Maybe someone who has been to the two countries can shed some light on it.

Pioneer Woman's Biscuits and Gravy

I used the biscuit recipe from Hillybilly Housewife. A very popular site for those trying to save money. I have the gravy recipe I used in a marbig folder (I think that link is the one I used), but with Pioneer Woman it is more a complete unit to use.

What I have noticed for those who say why don't I just use a scone recipe. If you compare them, biscuits has lots more butter in them. For Aussie scones, there is usually only one ounce or 30g of butter from memory.

Therefore in our country we don't have Bisquik in the stores, but we do have a scone mix. I used it to make this great recipe for a pork dinner from Betty Crocker. A great site.

Here is a great post about apple biscuits.

A great biscuit recipe here from an Mennonite cookbook.

My favourite savoury scone, is the ham ones, with very finely chopped ham that I learnt in High School (I actually went to a Tech School). There were herb ones and cheese. Will have to check that out and perhaps post the recipe. I still have my text book.

Scones are a delight to me, same with biscuits (US). Please add your comments or memories.

Show Day

My husband and our three daughters spent the day at the show today, they are nearly finished there. I suppose the Show is like a County Fair. We also have Field Days, like Henty Field Days in Australia.



We didn't do a lot, as mentioned in my previous post. But we did get two second prizes. One for my husband's jam, and one for our puppy. He was well behaved apparently which was good, he is a fairly large dog.



Our daughter helped man a church stall which was nice I thought. They were doing games, I think to encourage others to come to Youth Group.



Apparently our dog will be eligible for the working dog events next year as he is a gun dog.



My little girl got what we call here "fairy floss". My older girl got some jewelery.



I am going to post a picture of some canning or preserving on my other blog. It was quite hot today, and windy. Good for the dunking or rather hit in the face with a wet sponge stall.

Too much plum jam?

Made lots and not sure you can use it all up? Maybe it has set too hard? This recipe is a family favourite that we used to make often with chops not fillets. It is an Ellen Sinclair recipe.

Pork Fillets in Plum Sauce

4 pork fillets
cornflour
60g (2oz) butter
2 onions
1 red pepper or capsicum
2 sticks celery
4 shallots or spring onions
2.5cm (1 in) piece green ginger

Plum Sauce
1/3 cup plum jam
1 chicken stock cube
2 teaspoons cornflour extra
1/2 cup water
3 teaspoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 clove garlic

Remove any fat from pork, coat fillets lightly with cornflour. Peel onion, cut into quarters. Cut red pepper in half, remove seeds and membranes, cut into slices. Slice celery, chop shallots, grate ginger.

Heat butter in pan, add pork, cook until golden and cooked through; remove from pan, keep warm. Add all vegetables to pan, cook 1 minute. Add Sauce, stir until Sauce boils and thickens. Cut pork fillets into thick diagonal slices, arrange on serving plate, spoon vegetables and sauce over.

Plum Sauce: Combine all ingredients, mix well. Serves 4.

Metric cups 250ml US cups 200ml. Tablespoon 20ml, US tablespoon 15ml.

My cheapest ever recipe

We made this in Flowerdale when we lived there because you needed no money really to make it, or so it seemed. It saved as a few times. We were renting and also paying off a mortgage in our hometown at the same time. The recipe comes from a newer version of Cookery The Australian Way, a home economics text book. There is a lovely vegetarian section in that book (6th edition).

Spicy Lentil Noodles

Serves 4

2 teaspoons (10ml) oil
1 onion (125g) finely chopped
425g can tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup (100g) brown lentils
1 tablespoon (20ml) sweet chilli sauce
1 teaspoon (5ml) Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Instant noodles (2 minute)
2 tablespoon grated cheese
pinch sugar
2 chicken stock cubes

Heat oil in saucepan. Add onion and saute until soft. Add tomatoes, lentils, sauces and tomato paste, stock cubes and sugar.

Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 30 minutes until lentils are tender. Cook noodles, drain.

Add noodles to lentil mixture and mix gently. Serve hot, sprinkled with grated cheese.

Do you ever think about Chow Mein?

I do. I have been pondering how old the recipe is. I came across it in the 70s. It was the late 70s actually. My friend's Mum may have cooked it, not sure, but I know my step-mother did.

I was really blessed today when my new Leader Spare Corner book arrived, and out popped an old newspaper clipping, pre dollars and cents, which is 1966? The recipes on it were Chow Mein and Sago Plum Pudding, another dish I ponder occasionally as my Nana made it.

"Each week the best recipe by Miranda readers will win a prize of 10/-. In addition, a second prize of 5/- will be given."

First Prize - Chow Mein

One pound finely minced steak, two stalks celery, half a cabbage, one packet chicken noodle soup one teaspoon soya sauce, two medium onions, half a pound beans, two tablespoons rice, small tin pineapple, one dessertspoon curry powder. Lightly fry mince in one dessertspoon butter, add chopped vegetables, soup etc., and three cups or more of water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook all till tender, adding pineapple about 15 minutes before serving. _ Mrs J. Wilson, Ellinbank, via Warragul (Vic.).

Now, who remembers Miranda? Is Miranda something from The Weekly Times, the farming magazine/newspaper? It seems so as Miranda has a blog on The Weekly Times website. They also have a recipe section, which is interesting, as I love Weekly Times recipes but I don't buy the paper. The women's section seems smaller these days, do you think? It is interesting that the Miranda blog this week features rabbits. I recently posted my favourite rabbit recipe, also a clipping, this time from the 80s.

Each recipe for Chow Mein is slightly different. The one I use comes from the packet, though I think it has been modernised or changed. Mine had about a cup of water which never seems enough. My step-Mum's recipe was boiled for longer than I do it for, but it had a lovely rich taste. Hers also had mixed herbs I think. We put the vegetables in last, particularly the cabbage and let it steam on top.

I have been trying modern variations and today found this one with wombok.

Fortnightly Menu at last!

Thoughts on route to the meal plan:

Well it is Saturday and not all of the shopping has been done. I have some meat, so I will attempt a meal plan. It is so hot to sit and think, and very hard to choose things that don't need baking for example.

Very hot, this week, I don't think I have seen a week like it. I have decided to use some tuna because you don't have to fry it.

Now it is Monday and here is my plan, even though I did start eating some things already planned out on Thursday.

Thursday: Italian Vegetable Risotto (from Super Food Ideas February)
Friday: Mexi Potato Chicken Pots
Saturday: Sausages & Beans a combination of this recipe and this recipe.
Sunday: Chicken, Bacon & Spinach Spaghetti Bolognaise
Monday: Chicken, Pumpkin & Bean Curry
Tuesday: Spaghetti Bolognaise
Wednesday: Chow Mein with Rice
Thursday: Chili Con Carne
Friday: Sausage Stir-fry
Saturday: Taco Salad with Sour Cream Dressing
Sunday: Tuna Casserole
Monday: Tuna & Mushroom Pasta
Tuesday: Vegetable & Salami Risotto
Wednesday: Fettucine Carbonara

I seem to have extra, no wonder I was struggling.

Thursday: Sweet & Spicy Chicken Fried Rice
Friday: Polish Sausage Salad

Winter Squash Bread

Below is the recipe for the winter squash or acorn squash bread that I made a few years ago (2006). I had bought some seeds from Eden Seeds called Table Queen.

Squash Bread

Equally delicious for breakfast, snack or as a light dessert, this honey sweetened loaf can be spread with low-fat cream cheese or whipped butter. To warm: Wrap thick slices in a paper towel and microwave for 15 to 20 seconds on high.


2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1 egg plus 1 egg white
1 1/4 cup pureed cooked winter squash*

On a plate, sift together first six ingredients. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix oil, sugar and honey together until light and fluffy.


Beat in egg and egg white. Add squash puree and beat until smooth.


Fold in dry ingredients. Turn into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.


Bake until golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about one hour. Remove from the oven, let stand in pan 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire cooling rack or cake plate to cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Variation:

Squash Bread with Nut Topping

2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

After Step 4, pour melted butter over the top and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Bake as directed above. Cool and dust with powdered sugar.

I found the recipe here.

I found peeling the squash difficult, I don't have the knack, they have ribs in the sides of them. They are a really interesting vegetable. I really enjoyed Betty Crockers Fall Pork Dinner. I was very good at interpreting US recipes then as I did it often. I used a scone mix from the supermarket to make it with, and saladas.


Three Acorn Squashes

Plain Aussie Fare

Tonight I am doing the cooking as hubby and second son are away. The girls will always eat mashed potato with a meat, and I found that easiest tonight. Plus I like peeling potatoes.

The way I make it is similar to this video of Paul McCartney.



I use an orange masher that we have always had (actually it is hubby's), and also have been known to prefer a fork. Tonight I mixed with the masher.

I don't mind unwashed potatoes to start with, and I buy between 3-5kg bags. However, we don't have mashed potatoes every night, which is the traditional Australian way to eat.

Modern Convenience Foods

There are lots of different convenience foods. I think we were taught about in it home economics when I went to school.

I want to talk about a time about six or perhaps eight years ago when my husband still worked in a fast paced job in a civilised medium sized country town. I was about thirty seven and talking about that year and three years previous.

We were into wanting to be corporate in everything we did. I had four children at the time, aged about up to four to thirteen. I saw the bags of pre-washed salads in Coles, I may have used them once or twice. For the whole time we have been married I think, I have kept a lettuce in a lettuce container in the fridge, or perhaps in the early days in a colander, it is getting harder to remember. I take out the core, fill with water, turn it upside down to drain in the colander. When the lettuce runs out I buy a new one on shopping day, no matter how long that takes.

More recently, this year I walked into Safeway in our Regional Centre and I was struck by the amount of bagged salads the minute I walked in the door. So I am assuming they have increased a lot in the past five years. Was it beans I saw in a bag? However, my online green grocer put his beans in a bag, it is just not sealed and I assume not washed in chlorine as Jamie Oliver I think suggested those sealed bags are, at least in his country.

I have limited my precooked cakes at that time to birthdays or in lieu of home-baking. I am very stubborn about baking for other people outside those in my immediate household, I am not sure why that is. Maybe that it is one of my few liberated ideas. I used to buy the birthday cakes in Coles in one of those plastic containers. Now of course we live 1 1/2 hours from the nearest Coles. I have missed them, but gradually we have sorted out a new system. We have lived away from Coles five years.

I love at pre-marinated meat these days and wonder about it. The ones with vegetables in them, I just feel I wouldn't like to eat. Years ago, going back to when we were first married or our eldest two children were very small, we often marinated meat in this pottery bowl. That was because the Chinese Women's Weekly cookbook suggested that for the recipes. Recipes have changed a lot and have become easier and quicker. Not saying the marinating at the time was hard. So we don't marinade any more. I probably would be nice to upskill about BBQing but we don't BBQ so it would only be to know what others do, which is probably important.

I did buy pre-cooked chickens just before we left our hometown six years ago, and up until the time I shopped out of town here, not sure how long I have been doing that, maybe a year or two. I don't bring pre-cooked chicken home in the eski, though when we lived 1/2 hour from Melbourne I think I still bought the chickens home with me. We avoid chicken unless it comes in a Christmas hamper these days because of the real or imagined antibiotics they contain.

My mother has been using pre-cooked chickens every week for many many years. I started buying them after not wanting to at all, after reading a magazine called For Me. The lady who I have since contacted online had a very large family and wrote about her meals that she cooked for her family. One was chicken and corn cobs. So I had to try it.

Then after awhile we came across a paella recipe and for the first few years here it was a regular meal at our house, every 2-4 weeks. It involved rice, fresh tomatoes, lemon pepper and kabana or kabanos I think. Cooked chicken was a reliable food at the local shop, and there weren't too many of them, except rookwurst and chicken mince and perhaps I bought frozen pies and beef mince.

I don't think I got any of them to be a super person. It was easier for us to have frozen fish or pies back in the days I spoke of with potatoes and peas, nearly every night. I have spoken before how I am healthier now, either because of the change in diet or atmosphere. Our homecooked meals come from the Taste Australia website. I suppose if I didn't want to have an ordinary looking tea/dinner that would have been considered. Because I suppose salads and chicken do give a person points. Everyone loves the flair my Mum demonstrates with her meals. However, the meals we have made from the frozen fish from our Chrisco, Castle and Hamper King Christmas hampers lately have been very nice and I recommend them. For example Fish with Cheese Topping and cherry tomatoes and Lemon Crumbed Fish with Butter Bean Salad. I suppose it is a left over from the 60s where everything had to be done with flair. Remember those garnishes?

I had resisted the chickens for many years, even though my Mum was using them. Isn't it awful how once you have done the thing like bought the chicken you can't quite remember why you didn't buy them in the first place. I think it was a discipline thing. Maybe some people my age or older can relate. A similar thing goes on with washing clothes. Because of my self imposed discipline at the time I wouldn't buy the chicken.

The cake rake pictured below reminds me of my Nana's lovely vintage cake racks. We have a large one where lots of things fall though, and two small square ones that are very shiny and perhaps date from the 80s. I was interested that there were two kinds of cake racks in the hamper catalogues this year, a round one and a rectangular one. Yes, I could go to the hardware store, but I don't tend to do that.