Great Barrier Heaven

On Saturday we are off to my home, Great Barrier Island for two whole weeks of island bliss! I'm so excited to go and see my family and get to go to the beach, i know it's winter but .... we miss the beach sooo much down here, lakes are just not the same. I love it on the barrier just watching how the waves crash and i love the sound. From our house we can hear the ocean, i think that's the best sound to fall asleep to (rain on the corrugated iron roof might be the next best thing). We're gonna rug up and read books by the open fire, go out in some storms all dressed up in our warmest jackets, eat chocolate and drink tea with Dad! I can hardly wait!
oh and i'm going to take my camera on some island adventures... i'll post some of the best X (I also have to confess that this photo was taken at the height of summer, although... it is still just as beautiful)

Spinach, feta, roast pumpkin salad

We went to Dan and Taryn's for an impromptu family dinner this week and made our favourite salad, i stole the recipe from her and she got it from someone else (recipes are to be shared!). It's an ideal summer salad but we added some hot beef strips and that along with the roast veges made it perfect for us on a cold winter evening in Wanaka!

Here's how we made it...

1 packet Baby spinach
feta cheese (i like to use goats feta)
1/2 pumpkin cut into little squares
around 3 or 4 beetroot cut into quarters (we used home grown beetroot from the garden, it always tastes fresh and full of goodness)
a few cloves of garlic
half a red onion cut up
beef strips (you can use any kind of meat really, or felafel)
pine nuts
balsamic vinegar

Roast the pumpkin, beetroot, onions, garlic with olive oil and salt and pepper for about 45 mins.. it's a good idea to put the beetroot in a different dish as it will turn everything bright pink! We also toast the pine nuts in a pan quickly before putting them on the salad. Mix all other ingredients and add the roast veges and meat (we just pan fried the beef strips with some rock salt, pepper, and avocado oil), top with pine nuts and balsamic vinegar.

The Kiwi Pavlova

I thought this was so great and so kiwi (I love kitsch things!) You can buy them online from this store that sells all kinds of ridiculously touristy things that you don't need. I am ashamed to say, that i have never ever made a Pavlova, in fact i'm not sure i've even tried it before. I've always been a bit scared to make one (I have to say i think a lot of people cheat and buy them at the supermarket... and then maybe sneak some fruit on the top to make it look authentic). I think it's time i gave it a go.. X

Oh and here's the recipe (it's far too small to read off this tiny tea towel!)

4 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup castor sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour

Preheat the oven to 150°C.
Beat egg whites and salt in a bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add the castor sugar while beating. Continue until stiff peaks form. Beat in the remaining ingredients, vanilla essence, vinegar and cornflour. Turn mixture out onto a baking paper covered tray. Shape into a circle approximately 23 cm (9 in) in diameter.

Reduce oven temperature to 140°C. Bake for 15 minutes, then further reduce the oven temperature to 120°C and bake for 1 ¼ hours. Cool completely in the oven. Top with whipped cream and kiwifruit and strawberries.

Brandon's Toasted Muesli

This is a really yummy breakfast and you can put all your favourite things in it. Brandon has this every day (except for when we do special breakfast like eggs and "toy" soldiers). It's really good with natural unsweetened yogurt on the top, there's lots of honey in the muesli so it doesn't need any sweet added to it.
Here's a recipe i came up with... i just roughly measure, it's more fun to just pour stuff in!

4 tablespoons honey (a friend of mine uses maple syrup instead)
4 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup almonds (chopped)
1/2 cup coconut
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried apricots (chopped)
1/2 cup dates (chopped)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
a little melted butter (about 50g) or olive oil

Heat oven to 180C. Brush roasting pan with butter/oil. Combine all ingredients in roasting pan, drizzle with honey/maple syrup. Put into the oven and stir it every 5 or so minutes for about 20 minutes, i like to make it really toasty but sometimes we end up with little charred raisins so be careful! Let cool for half an hour. We store it in a tupperware (because i collect these now, it's part of being a wife i think) and it lasts a couple of weeks.... if i don't eat it too.
p.s supermarket cereals are generally packed with sugar as well as preservatives and lots of other junk so i think it's a great idea to make your own and know what you're eating..

Happy Breakfast! x

A collection of pictures that inspire me

Banana date walnut muffins

These came about after the discovery of a walnut tree in one of our local parks while we were out for a walk a couple of weeks ago. We filled up our pockets and carried home as many walnuts as we could and brainstormed ideas of what we could use them for on the way home. We came up with these banana, date, walnut & honey muffins!

2-3 very ripe bananas
10 - 15 dates, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup of melted butter or 1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup honey
2 tbsp molasses
2 cups flour (Amy used bran in her ones)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk/rice milk
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla essesnce


Preheat the oven to 180C.
Sieve the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mash the bananas and keep aside.
In another bowl mix together butter/oil, honey and molasses. Add milk little by little, then vanilla essence, mix well. Stir in the mashed bananas, chopped walnuts and dates then fold in dry ingredients.
Put in greased muffin tins and bake for 20-25 mins xx

Good things

I have been meaning to update for ages but it's been a busy little while for our family (me and Brandon). May seems to be a new season for us. We just moved into our first house, Brandon surprised me with a new camera, and we went on an adventure up to the top of the South Island to pick up our new car... our first car! and then we drove it all the way back home to Wanaka, stopping off to see some of our favourite people on the way. We had a great time and it's amazing how exciting cities can be when you live in a TINY town. Here's a few pics from our trip...