Quirky Cooking Birthday Giveaway & an Update!

Guess what? Quirky Cooking is 5 years old today! Woo hoo!!!

Five years ago on Boxing Day I started this blog as a place to record my recipes, menu plans and tips for those who needed some help with healthy, allergy friendly cooking.

Well, I never would've imagined that so many people would be joining me on this journey, and that five years later I would be working on publishing a cookbook. Thank you, thank you, thank you all for your support! At the end of this post there's a Birthday Giveaway, so keep reading to see how to enter.

(If you'd like to see a video interview where I explain my food journey, why and how I started my blog, why I use a Thermomix, etc, click here.)

The last few weeks (and months) have been a bit of a whirlwind, with lots of recipe testing and the photo shoot for my book in Perth, so I've been a bit absent from my blog. Thank you for being so patient. I had no idea how much work a cookbook entailed - phew! I still have another photo shoot here at home in early January, and bits and pieces of writing to finish off, but nearly there. For those of you who are wondering, the book will be available in Autumn. Not long now, so stay tuned!

Here's a glimpse of behind the scenes at the photo shoot... Thanks to the super organised team at Thermomix Australia, it all went really well. I absolutely loved working with these guys, they're amazing.

It was exciting watching the photos come together with the help of the photographer (Craig of F22 Photography), the stylist (Tarsh), and the art director (Becky of Chil3). There were quite a few of us working in the kitchen/studio each day, so the food never went to waste. Whatever we didn't eat was divided up and taken home by everyone at the end of each day. 

Quirky takeaway - pizza night! :D

I also managed to squeeze in a few catch ups with friends in Perth, including the wholefood guru extraordinaire, Jude Blereau! What fun :) (This lady is a legend!)

We arrived home from Perth a week before Christmas and I think I slept for almost two days, and I'm still catching up, so we had a very simple Christmas and just enjoyed a relaxing time with family and friends.

My friend bought me this very apt sign... ha ha!

And I managed to get a little bit of Christmas cooking done - thankfully mum did most of it!

So a fun time was had by all, and now it's Boxing Day and everyone's relaxing... except me, because I started a blog on Boxing Day five years ago, so now every Boxing Day is spent blogging. Ha ha! Good thing I love it... ;)

Every year I do a Birthday Giveaway to say thank you to you all, and this year we have some lovely prizes from Skin Juice and Blendstyle! Hope you like them.

To win a prize, all you need to do is comment on this blog post saying why you'd love to win. Winners will be picked randomly on Thursday 2nd January at 7pm, via Random.org, and will be contacted via email. Winners names will also be announced on this blog post. Competition open to Australian residents only.

[Note: If commenting on a mobile device, you will need to scroll to bottom of page, click View Web Version, then scroll down again to see comment option.]

Skin Juice Packs:

I believe it's really important to not only to be aware of what foods you are putting into your body, but also what you're feeding your skin. Anything you put onto your skin goes into your bloodstream, so why would you want to use products full of chemicals and nasties? Skin Juice is a natural range of skin products I've recently discovered and am loving, so I really wanted to share!

Skin Juice is an innovative new kind of skin care which breaks the 'rules', using cleansing oils instead of soapy formulas, and night oils in place of nights creams. The oils are natural, undiluted vegetable, fruit, seed and nut oils that lubricate, moisturise and protect without clogging up the skin pores. The oils feel amazing on your skin, smell beautiful, and are free of synthetic fragrances, parabens and dyes. They are environmentally sustainable and against animal testing. For more information, check out the Skin Juice website, Facebook page, and Instagram page.

Blendstyle Apron:

Blendstyle's gorgeous designer aprons come in many different styles - choose from luxurious embroidered aprons, vintage/retro inspired aprons, or quirky, whimsical, fun aprons. Check out the Blendstyle website and Facebook page.

Nutra Organics Health Bundle:

I love using Nutra Organics powders to add some extra nutrition to smoothies, juices, bliss balls and more. They are an Australian company that uses only wholefoods and natural sweeteners in their products - no synthetic or artificial ingredients, not fillers, no nasties. Check out their website, Facebook page and Instagram for recipes and tips for adding phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, etc, to foods and drinks for an extra boost. Great for kids that are fussy eaters!

[Prize draw now finished]

1st Prize: 

1 Skin Juice Essential Juice Box, valued at $190 (contains 6 beautiful, juicy, full size products) 

+ 1 Spud Sponge valued at $12.90 

+ 1 Blendstyle Apron of your choice, valued at up to $37.95

2nd Prize: 

1 Mini Squeezes Travel Pack valued at $75 (contains 5 travel size refillable skin juice products) 

+ 1 Spud Sponge valued at $12.90

3rd Prize: 

1 Skin Juice Pack valued at $69.50 (this pack plus this pack) 

+ 1 Spud Sponge valued at $12.90

4th Prize: 

1 Nutra Organics Health Bundle valued at $119.00
(1 x Acai Berry Blend 200g, 1 x Super Greens & Reds 250g, 1 x Organic Maca 300g)

+ some samples of each of the energy bars

Thank you to Skin Juice, Blendstyle and Nutra Organics for the generous gifts, 

and thank you to all of my lovely readers for your support over the last few years!

Have a wonderful week!

Cheers, Jo xx

Christmas Breakfast Casserole

I often feel a bit overloaded with all the sweet stuff at Christmas, and the kids tend to dig into their Christmas stockings first thing and start in on the homemade sweets, so a savoury breakfast/brunch on Christmas day makes a lot of sense to me. (I prefer a savoury breakfast any day, actually.)

This year, we're having our traditional Christmas dinner of roast turkey and all the trimmings on Christmas Eve. Christmas day we're having a lazy breakfast after the kids open their presents, then getting together for dinner with friends on Christmas night. So this is the breakfast I'm making for Christmas day - a 'prepare ahead' brunch casserole. Oh, and mum is bringing Monkey Bread too, so that should keep everyone happy. :)

This casserole might not look like much (it was hard to photograph!) but the kids love it - it's very tasty. The bottom layer is homemade hashbrowns, made with a mixture of potato and orange sweet potato. Then there's a layer of egg, then a spicy American style turkey or beef mince layer, and egg and zucchini on top with a sprinkle of herbs and savoury yeast flakes. You can use grated parmesan instead of savoury yeast flakes if you don't need it to be dairy free.

You can prepare this the day before if you like, and bake it on Christmas morning while the family is opening presents. Easy.

P.S. This is obviously also just a great midweek dinner with a salad!

Christmas Brunch Casserole 
(Gluten Free, Grain Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free)

Serves 6

Preheat oven to 180°C.

1kg potatoes, roughly chopped (I use a mixture of potatoes and orange sweet potatoes)
1 brown onion, halved
2 garlic cloves
3 Tbsp ghee or coconut oil
2 tsp herb salt
Freshly ground black pepper
500g turkey or beef mince
1/8 tsp sage, ground
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
2 Tbsp tamari
2 Tbsp tomato sauce
10 eggs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 zucchini, quartered
2 tsp savoury yeast flakes

1. Place potatoes, onion, garlic, 1 tsp of herb salt and some freshly ground pepper into mixing bowl and chop 30 sec/speed 4.
 
2. Melt ghee or oil in a large frypan and add potato mixture. Stir and fry until lightly browned and cooked through, approx. 10 mins. Spread over base of a 34 x 22 cm rectangular baking dish and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, place mince, sage, cayenne, 1/4 tsp oregano, tamari and tomato sauce into mixing bowl and mix 10 sec/reverse/speed 3. Cook 4 mins/Varoma/reverse/speed soft with MC off (until barely cooked). Remove to a bowl and set aside.

4. Place eggs, 1 tsp herb salt, garlic powder and onion powder and some freshly ground black pepper into mixing bowl. Mix 5 sec/speed 4, then drizzle half the mixture over the potatoes.

5. Sprinkle mince over the egg layer. 

6. Add zucchini to remaining egg mixture in mixing bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 5. Spread over mince layer and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp oregano and yeast flakes.

6. Cover with foil and bake in preheated 30 mins, then remove foil and bake a further 30 mins, or until set and browned.

OR

To Prepare Ahead:

Cover casserole with foil and place in fridge overnight. In the morning, place in preheated 180°C oven and cook 45 mins, then remove foil and cook 30 mins or until set and browned.