I’ve been experimenting with different ingredients for salads. This coleslaw was made with craisins (dried cranberries) and topped with grape tomatoes. It was delicious. 5 years ago

A different version of crab, cream cheese and onion wontons. 5 years ago

Cinnamon-sugar wontons 5 years ago

I forgot about a recipe I tried for the first time last weekend. My daughter hosted a candle party (at my house) with an Asian food theme. I made two kinds of Fried Wontons 1) Cheese and crab, and 2) Pork. 5 years ago

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas 5 years ago

I finally feel like I’m accomplishing this goal. It’s only the 2nd of the month and already we’re trying out a new recipe!

Tonight it’s pumpkin soup – a simple recipe but sometimes those can be the best.

Also I forgot to mention that last month I made cheese ravioli. Not entirely a new recipe as I’ve helped make it a dozen times (actually probably a lot more), but it was the first time I made it by myself (with only a few phone calls to nonna for assistance…!).

And we almost tried a new recipe the other day. P cooked one of our favourite veggie stir-frys for dinner and as he was serving it up he stated that the recipe didn’t seem to make much. When I looked into the wok I had to keep a straight face when I asked him “where are the noodles???”. It seemed to make enough when those were added….!! 5 years ago

I made prawn pad thai last night for dinner, but I’ll be honest – I don’t think it was that good! P assured me he liked it, but personally I’m in no rush to make it again. It was definately missing something… I don’t think it had enough veggies actually, and the lemon juice really overpowered the whole dish. Maybe I need to experiment more….

At least I tried another recipe though! That’s July covered. 5 years ago

I went over to P’s brothers place last night for a family dinner and brought along dessert. I made a triple chocolate cheesecake and I must say it looked remarkably like the one in the picture!

Everyone said they liked it – they were either being very poilte, or actually did like it. I hope it was the latter!

Additionally, I tried making scones again, but I used a different recipe so technically it counts as a whole new recipe! They were more successful than the last attempt (P ate about a million which is always a good indicator), so I think I’ll stick with that one for the moment.

So I’m now ahead of the game… I might have a chance of ticking this goal off this year! 5 years ago

Just as I posted my last entry, I remembered I made scones the other morning (which amazingly enough I have never done before). So that can be back dated to March…. which means I’ve tried 5 new recipes this year and it’s the 5th month… It’s not quite one a month, but I’m making progress at least! 6 years ago

failed horribly with this goal so far this year! However I made some ground by trying two new recipes this month. The first was a Caramel Slice for P, and the second was a hokkien noodle and pork stir-fry. I could almost claim the latter as two recipes seeing as how I made one batch with pork and the other with vegetarian stir fry strips, but essentially it was the same!

So that is my one for this month and last month… I think I still need to catch up for March and then I’ll be up to date for the year again. 6 years ago

I used to get together with a friend every week to make dinner and watch a movie or something. We played with lots of recipes, and our dinners always ended up being really elegant and gourmet looking (and tasting!). It was great. We got to feel really special for a night a week and have an awesome meal. 6 years ago

Ok, so these might not entirely count as new recipes as I’ve helped make them before, however I made them both for my dinner party and it was the first time I made them all by myself. So I think if I combine them both (both worth only half a new recipe), they equal one full new recipe…. since I’ve already got one for Feb, these can be Jan’s recipes!

So that makes me upto date this year for this goal! 6 years ago

new recipe without even realising it! I made double chocolate raspberry cupcakes with a chocolate ganache icing for P for valentines day. Actually a very easy recipe and all the reports have said they were delicious.

So February has been taken care of. Now I need to make up for January! 6 years ago

Now I can’t class this as a new recipe as I’ve made these a bunch of times, I’m just posting it as it’s a great recipe and very easy to make (and because Nonnacookbooker asked for it to be posted!).

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
2 medium zucchini (grated)
1 cup dry bread crumbs
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/4 cup shredded mint
3 green onions (shallots), finely sliced
2 tablespoons of olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients except for oil. Season to taste. Shape into round cakes (should make about 12 fritters).
2. Heat oil and cook each side for 2-3 mins (until heated through and golden).

I only use spray oil with these to minimise the amount used. Also I usually add some cracked pepper and a little salt. Lovely served on top of salad! 6 years ago

I’m pretty sure I’ve been doing this, but I haven’t actually been keeping track. I’ll try to keep better tabs on this. 6 years ago

Just when I nearly gave up on this goal I tried a new recipe!! It was a snowpea and prawn stirfry and it worked out great – even looked like the one in the picture! P loved it too and said he’d be happy for me to cook it for him again and he even asked if it would be easy enough for him to cook himself. It would be… very simple!

So that is December taken care of…. now I just need to make up for that past 4-5 months I missed! A new start in Jan I think. 6 years ago

this up again in the new year – lately I just haven’t had a chance. Somehow I don’t think putting a tub of yoghurt in the freezer counts as making ‘frozen yoghurt’ does it??!! 6 years ago

Tonight it’s maple glazed chicken thighs. We’ll see how it goes. 6 years ago

This month has been a busy one for new recipes, mainly because of the tupperware party of the centry. I tried out a few new things, all of which will go into my list of easy and impressive things to cook for parties. Two of my favourites were mini toasted foccacias and chocolate truffles with a hint of orange and cardamon. Recipes to follow:

Mini Toasted Foccacias

Loaf of foccacia/turkish break
Pesto
Boccocini (thinly sliced)
Chargrilled vegetables (capsicum, eggplant, zucchini etc)

Assemble all together and toast in large sandwich press. Cut into small squares and place toothpick through centre of each square. DONE. Very easy to make and impressive to look at.

Chocolate Truffles

250g good quality dark cooking chocolate
100g sour cream
1/4 tsp ground cardamon
2 tsps of finely grated orange rind
Cocoa powder

Place chocolate in dish and place over simmering water on stovetop. Once melted, add sour cream, orange rind and cardamon. Mix thoroughly. Place in fridge until set (about an hour).

Once set, drop teaspoonfulls of mixture into cocoa then roll into ball shapes. Once rolled, coat in more cocoa. Keep in fridge until ready to serve. 6 years ago

I don’t have a picture to post of this, however I’ll post a picture of a bin because that’s where this creation ended up.

I cooked a warm rigatoni, broccoli and cauliflower salad…. sounds unique…. and it was hideous. The recipe had an unusually large amount of breadcrumbs in it, and I reduced the amount as it seemed like too much, and even after reducing the amount, it was still way way too much. Coated everything and made the whole lot taste very um…. crumby!!! I think possibly if I play around with the quantities a little I could make this work a treat… if I have any success I’ll share it with everyone! 6 years ago

I haven’t tried too many new recipes of late – except for my forays into the world of seafood – but hummus has become my latest favourite and I’ve been making it every second day. Just put a can of chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and a bit of olive oil in the blender and there you go. Easy and good! 6 years ago

I’ve recently purchased a Blender to replace the one I “lost” a little while back (see goal 26 ). As with any new toy, you need to do some experimenting, so this months recipe is a simple, yet fabulous smoothie.

1 ripe Banana
2 Figs
Splash of soy/low fat/other milk of your choice
A few spoonfuls of natural yoghurt
2-3 ice cubes

Flick the switch and you’re done! Excellent for a quick and easy breakfast. 7 years ago

Take any buckwheat pancake recipe and substitute the milk for green tea soymilk. I have now discovered that when I have a choice of two soymilk cartons at the supermarket the little cup of green milk = green tea flavour! 7 years ago

1) One-pot veggie curry
2) Hot salmon, potato and mustard cakes
3) Spiced tomato and lentil soup

The soup was really easy and quick:

1 onion, finely chopped,
2 diced carrots
150g red lentils rinsed
2×400g cans chopped tomato
1 tbsp ground cumin + medium curry powder
1.2 litres veg stock
black pepper/fresh coriander to garnish

Place all ingredients (except pepper/coriander) in a large saucepan. Bring to simmer, cover, cook for 30 mins or until lentils soft. Let soup cool and then liquidise in blender. Season to taste and serve with coriander scattered on top. 7 years ago

300g plain flour
1tbsp baking powder
1tsp salt
3 eggs
2tsp vanilla extract
700ml buttermilk
100g butter melted, plus extra for frying
8 small to medium bananas, sliced in half lengthways
568ml pot of yoghurt, or double cream, whipped
maple syrup to serve

1* Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl beat together the eggs and sugar until pale, then beat in the vanilla extract, buttermilk and melted butter. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat together until smooth. Leave to one side for about 20 mins.
*2 Heat 1 tsp butter in a non-stick frying pan until it bubbles and swirl around the pan. Pour in a small ladleful of of batter and cook gently for about 45 secs, flip over when golden and cook the other side for the same time. Stack them on top of each other on a plate once cooked, keeping them warm by loosely covering with foil.
3 Sprinkle the banana halves with a little sugar then fry them, cut side down, in a knob of butter until lightly caramelised – about 2 mins. Serve the pancakes sandwiched with banana and yoghurt or cream, and pour over the maple syrup.

Okay, slight cheat – I haven’t actually cooked this yet but I discovered the recipe in Feb so I’m counting it ;) Planning on trying these next weekend. I’ll have to make some modifications to make them gluten/dairy free but that shouldn’t be too difficult since I discovered where to buy gluten-free flour :) (hence the recent focus on pancakes!) 7 years ago

Nabe is perfect for winter and I first tried this out over the New Year. It’s super easy to make, basically just stock to which you can add an assortment of vegetables, tofu, fish (or meat) and noodles. I opted for vegetables (leek, carrots, Chinese cabbage and enoki mushrooms), tofu and a variety of seafood. I cheated and used a pre-made stock. Turned out nice though! This article includes a proper description and recipes. 7 years ago