I have found two really great cookbooks for those who aren’t the Gordon Ramsey type.  I was so impressed with them that I have kept them for myself, which means once again there will be another little parcel under the tree that I will have to pretend to be surprised about when I unwrap them.

I have really been looking at making my life a little more exciting in the food department and I’m sure that the fact that I have been watching Masterchef lately has something to do with it.  But all that aside I was really thrilled to find these two cookbooks and are aimed at making our life less complicated in the kitchen but a little more exciting. 

 

Any One Can Cook  by  Annabel Langbein

Put quite simply in her words ‘this book is deigned to empower the beginner as well as the harried home-maker.  Providing people of all ages with the building blocks to become confident and successful in the kitchen.’  

Available: all leading bookstores       

Price:32.99                 

 

Fit Food Fast by the Millennium Institute

The Millennium Institute of Sport & Health and Nestle’ have designed this book to help Kiwis make good nutritional choices – you don’t have to be the top athlete to benefit from it’s recipes.  You also get an insight into the habits, likes and dislikes of some of out famous athletes. 

Most of the recipes contain six ingredients or fewer and are designed with both health and taste in mind.

                                          Available: all leading bookstores       

                                          Price:$32.99

  Last night I was lucky enough to be asked out to dinner with a fabulous group of women who meet once a month for a catch up.  So not only was the company lovely but so was the venue.  I think I have found my new favourite restaurant in Wellington.

We went to a restaurant called Vista on Oriental Parade, which was another bonus because I was late and needed to park quickly and I did.  Oriental Parade is a fantastic venue if you want to go out for a quick dinner and don’t want the hassle of having to find a park.

But all that aside, you could now tell me I have to park at the airport and walk, and I still would after the dinner I had last night - it would be worth it.  I may then get a taxi from the airport because I’m not big on walking miles as I like to get a park out front, but you know what I mean, this restaurant is that good.

The service is fantastic with a great selection of wines, and then there’s the food.  I had Kingfish as a main, which was pan-fried with greens and a pesto sauce on top, followed by a selection of desserts.

I couldn’t choose which dessert was the nicest as they were all amazing and I am definitely going back to try the Asian Wok Stir-fry, how exciting.

So if you are stuck for somewhere to go for dinner, do try Vista as I will certainly be going back and back and back.  See you there.

Vista

106 Oriental Parade, Wellington   Ph: 04 385 7724

  This will probably be one of the cheapest products I will ever blog, but quite possibly one of my favourites.  Quite a few years ago (wont tell you how many as it reminds me how fast time has gone by) I went on a trip to the US to meet my partner at the time, who I went onto marry.  I had the most fantastic holiday and loved trying all the different things you could buy in the States.

If you have ever been to one of their Supermarkets you will know what I mean, the cereal isle alone is almost as much fun to visit as going to a movie and as amusing.  I mean have you ever seen so much choice it kept me entertained for ages. 

So whilst hanging out with some of our American friends I got to try what’s called Big Red Gum, apparently it’s famous in the States and everyone knows what Big Red Gum is, it appears you either love it or hate.  Guess which one I was?

Well you can’t buy it New Zealand and even though I bought some home it ran out very quickly, I have only managed to find it at one diary that stocked it since my trip, so imagine my excitement when a friend told me about Eclipse Cinnamon Sugar free mints.  They taste exactly the same.

The best part about them is they are Sugar Free and given that they are mints not chewing gum they don’t loose their flavour after five minutes, bonus.

So if you have ever had Big Red this is your lucky day, or if you think this sounds like you might like the taste, give them a go I did and keep a packet with all the time.

I have since gone onto try other Eclipse Mints in their range and really love them as well, they are extremely easy to transport around in your handbag and are in a good container which closes tightly so it wont come open.  You also get 50 mints in one container so they last for quite a while.

Oh and by the way they freshen your breath, funny that bit never occurred to me, I only bought them because they taste good and every time I have one I get this nice feeling of good memoires of my trip.

Available:All leading Supermarkets (usually located at checkout)    Price:$2.59

  

Ok so it’s official, another icon just like Michael Jackson has gone. Why oh why do the things we know and love have to change?  What am I so upset about? Well would you believe it’s Cadbury chocolate?

The cats out of the bag. Yes the chocolate is smaller, 20% less in fact. It’s in a different packet and downsized from a 250gm to a 200gm, and no you are not wrong, it doesn’t taste the same either.  That has also changed. They have decreased the amount of cocoa butter by 5% and substituting it with palm oil. Yuck!

Cadbury chocolate is like the holy grail. Don’t they know that it’s part of our history and they can’t mess with that?  It’s one thing to have changed the packaging, we can live with that.  Then there’s manufacturing it in Australia, not ideal but yes we can live with that too, but to change the recipe, are you kidding? 

What’s that saying ‘if it aint broke then don’t fix it’?  Why mess with something that is a huge success and further more what kind of bozos do they think we are?  Did they think we wouldn’t notice them changing the taste?  How can we not notice the taste, the new chocolate is awful. It definitely has that Kremelta taste.

Cadbury on the other hand are claiming that it is the first time they have changed the look of the blocks of chocolate in 25 years and the 50gm reduction is so they can make the blocks more affordable.  But seriously it sounds pretty lame to me. Whilst we don’t like to have to pay more for our favourite chocolate, most of us would if it meant it stayed our favourite chocolate.  If we wanted cheap and nasty, there are other brands we could buy. We don’t need Cadbury to force us to buy cheap and nasty. They also say they have cut the price they sell to retailers and that means we shouldn’t be paying any more than $3.99 for 200gm block. 

Cadbury also claim that the change in recipe shouldn’t affect the taste and that it should be softer. The good news they say is all the base ingredients are from New Zealand, whoope is all I say to that.  It still doesn’t change the fact that it doesn’t taste the same, in fact bloody awful springs to mind and no I wont be sneaking it into my trolley anymore under the guise it’s for my husband.

It’s off in search of a replacement now. But maybe its for my own good. Do you have any idea how long I have to walk on the treadmill to burn off a block of chocolate?  Doesn’t bear thinking about really.  Shame on you Cadburys.

Price:$3.99  200gm block                                      Available:  all supermarkets

                      

  

It’s cold outside and what better way to keep warm than drinking some Miso soup.  Now I know that it’s not everybodys ‘cup of tea’ but I really like it and I also like the fact that it is supposed to be good for you.  Better still, I have found a way to have it at home when I feel like it and I am looking for something to fill me up. I like things that have a slightly salty taste and this is perfect for me.

It has 156 kcal per 100 grams, which is not bad as a filler for lunch.  You get 12 sachets in a packet and for $4.39 for the whole packet that’s less than 36 cents per soup.  Now it doesn’t get any cheaper than that, now does it.  The Miso soup I get from my Sushi Bar is $1.20 a cup and this is just as good as that. 

It can be found in all the main supermarkets I have looked in, but you may have to hunt around as it is in different areas depending on the store. The best part about it is that my friend Alison showed me this and given I have no idea what it says on the packet, I was never likely to ever pick it up and it’s really nice to be able to make your own.  Also don’t look too close, as it really doesn’t look very appetising,  but don’t pay any attention to that it’s really yummy.

It has a long expiry date, so there are no worries about having to use it quickly and it can be easily separated to take in your bag for work or wherever.

Give it a go, you wont be disappointed, I even had a friend try it as well and he gave it the big tick too.

(Now this packet says 10 servings but the one we can buy has 12 in it.)

Available:All leading Supermarkets                          Price:   $4.39 (12 sachets)

   To feel that I am making  some effort towards healthier eating I bought the Weight Watchers Custard which I thought looked really yummy on the packet.  I love custard, it’s without a doubt one of my most favourite deserts, have it along with my Xmas pudding and I am in heaven.  You see I really only eat custard once a year and that’s at Christmas time, it is my Christmas Day treat.

So I was excited when I saw they had a custard product in the Weight Watchers range, on the packaging it looks creamy and positively dreamy.  So I thought, maybe I can have this in my pantry as a special treat or when I have people for dinner to have with desert.  I also use lots of other Weight Watchers products and love them, so thought this would be good too.

That’s really where I should have left it though, nothing has probably disappointed me more than this damn custard.

The first drama I had was making it.  I made the first lot to the exact instructions on the packet, only to find it was still really runny and had black floating bits on the top.  Stink, there must have been something in my jug before I stated, so I tipped it out and opened a new packet to try again.  Only to find the same thing happened again, so it was then I figured the black floaty bits were in fact actually supposed to be there after all.  It was the Vanilla Bean, it looked awful.

I had alot of trouble getting the consistency right as it was very runny and I wanted it to be thicker, they say to keep microwaving it till you are happy with the texture but I eventually gave up as it didn’t seem to make any difference.

All that aside I was still looking forward to my treat, so I poured some into a bowl and started to eat it.  I was initially stunned at how strong the fake sugar taste was and thought this isn’t anywhere as nice as I thought it would be. The worst was yet to come, when you are eating it you notice that artificial sugar taste, but when you have stopped that taste stays with you for ages.  I had this horrible taste in my mouth after I had finished.  The worst part about it was that the damn taste stayed there until I went to bed, it was awful.

I will never eat this again and it was that disgusting that I chucked the unopened packet out.

I will never eat it again, not a good buy.

Available: all Supermarkets                                     Price:$