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

Weekly Highlights & some NEWS!

(Ummm, no, this isn't the recipe for my Cherry Delight 'Cheese'cake, so sorry. I just thought the photo might get your attention.) :D

Hello everyone. I know, my Weekly Highlights are very late, but I have an excuse!

I'm not sure if you've noticed that I've been a little bit absent from my blog and Facebook page lately. Well, there's a good reason for that. I promise it's not because I've been lazing around the house in my PJ's all day eating dulce de leche on fresh strawberries (as much as I've wanted to). It's just that I've been madly recipe testing and writing out recipes for the last couple of weeks because ... I have a publisher for my COOKBOOK!!!! EEEEK!!! (A bit exciting!!) Yes, a really real printed book, complete with really real photographers and stylists and all that fun stuff!

And along with a publisher comes DEADLINES and SECRETS and eating, sleeping and breathing RECIPES! And as much as I'd love to, I'm afraid I can't share the recipe for my cherry 'cheese'cake yet, because I need it for my book. You do understand, don't you? I'll try not to tease you with any more photos that do not have recipes attached, okay? (Although now and then I might post a sneaky one on Instagram, so if you want to see some sneak previews that's the place to look.) :)

So although I haven't had as much time to chat, there were still quite a few subjects discussed on my Facebook page this past week. Here's the main ones, to keep you all up to date.


FOOD

My big girl turned 16 last week (yes, I'm feeling old!). She wasn't interested in going out for dinner or having a party, she just wanted a big, family, Mexican fajita feast with a cherry cheesecake to finish it off. So that's what we did...

Fajitas with the lot!

Spelt tortillas, Mexican rice (mum's recipe - another option is my Mexican Quinoa), marinated fajita beef & chicken, sauteed red peppers (capsicums) and onions, guacamole, and my dairy free sour cream. So good.

Oh, and some smoky chipotle chilli sauce to top it off. Woweee, love that stuff!

(Do you like my cow apron? Lol!)

Mmmmm... fajitas!

What healthy treats would you cook for a 16th birthday party? Here's some reader's ideas.

Coconut Caramel Custard: In case you missed this, I posted this quick and easy recipe on the blog last week. Warning: dangerously addictive!

Pandan leaves: Ever see 'pandan leaves' in an Asian recipe and wonder where to get them, how to use them, whether you can grow them yourself, and what to substitute for them if they're nowhere to be found? Wonder no more, answers here!

Date loaf/cake recipes: Do you have a favourite date loaf or cake you like to make? Here's some readers' favourites.

Grapefruit recipes: It's grapefruit season, our fruit basket is overflowing with them! Need some ideas?

Travelling with Thermomix: A reader asked for simple Thermomix meal ideas that don't need heaps of pantry stuff, as she wanted to take her Thermomix with them on holiday. With a 2 year old and a 7 month old, it's a lot easier to 'eat in' than 'out', and the room they were to stay in only had coffee/tea making facilities. Here's some ideas readers suggested for travel meals.

7 Ingredient challenge: A desperate plea for a quick dessert idea using the 7 ingredients available brought out some very creative suggestions!

Vegan dinners: Recipes and ideas for a meat free meal.

Traditional afternoon tea ideas: Except they need to be gluten, dairy, sugar, and soy free! No problem.

Free-from birthday cake! A reader needs a recipe for a birthday cake that's gluten, dairy and soy free - preferably something rich and decadent.

Passionfruit recipes: Ideas for using up all those passionfruits that are falling off the vine! (At least here in FNQ, anyway!)

Paleo and nightshade-free food: A reader needs some ideas for paleo meals/food that are also free from potatoes, tomatoes, chillies, eggplants, capsicum and most legumes. Some great ideas here.

Lactation biscuit recipe: Have you heard of these? I hadn't! Basically it's a biscuit containing ingredients that help with lactation. Lots of other ideas for helping to increase breastmilk production here too.

Soup weather: What soups are you making on these wintery evenings?

And just a quick tip for when you make your tortillas or wraps - this is how thin you want to roll them, then cook them quickly in a really hot, dry frypan so they don't dry out. Make sure you keep them wrapped up in a clean tea towel while you cook them, so they stay warm and soft. Enjoy!

AND MORE...

Boosting your immune system: A reader asked for help for immune boosting ideas, as her husband has Ross River Fever.

Making soaps in your Thermomix - yes or no? Some great ideas and discussions here.

New Thermomix Blog & FB Page! If you need some help meal planning with your new Thermomix, Thermonerd may be the blog for you. Being a work-at-home mum of a little boy and twin baby girls means this busy lady HAS to plan ahead to keep up! Meal planning is definitely the way to go for helping with time management and budgeting... if you haven't tried it, you should.

By the way, there's lots of menu plans on my blog, as well as some here on my Facebook page!

Favourite Thermomix recipe books: What's your fave?

What the rural life is really like. I loved reading this blog post by Rural Miss and seeing her beautiful photos. Have you thanked a farmer today?

So now I'd better get back to my recipe writing...

I might have to get Mr I to do a guest post for me this week, so my blog doesn't look so neglected. :D

Have a great week!