Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
cooking up a storm at the edge of the world
A recipe commissioned by Redmond. As a food blogger I am regularly approached by a wide variety of food related companies looking for honest opinions about their products or services. I love these challenges – trying out new things is something I really enjoy, so when Redmond contacted me last year asking if I’d …
In collaboration with Alpen Swiss Muesli. Are you a breakfast skipper? I am. I try not to be. I know I shouldn’t be, what with breakfast being the most important meal of the day, but I just can’t bear to eat anything for the first few hours after getting up. I’m just not hungry! Saying …
Recipe from 150 Fast & Simple Recipes by Parragon Books. There are times when carbohydrates are required. How about carbohydrates… with bacon… tossed in more crispy carbohydrates! Eee! This spaghetti with bacon and crispy breadcrumbs, ready in less than half an hour, was one of the many recipes which caught my eye from Parragon’s …
A grain-free pancake recipe packed with protein! We’re pancake fiends in this house. With three growing children I can stand at the cooker making a batch and they’re devoured within seconds of coming out of the pan. I can barely keep up! Regular readers will know I’m one for trying new things, so when my …
Our House of Spice – an authenic Indian masala curry spice blend with a medium spiced tomato and onion sauce. I absolutely love spicy food; not too spicy that you can’t taste the flavours in the dish, but spicy enough to get those taste buds going and warm up the cockles on a cold, windy …
Around the world in 50 fun, healthy, creative recipes the whole family can cook together. As the mother of three noodle-obsessed children I was delighted when I received the email from the Quarto book publishers announcing the soon-to-be-released-in-the-UK cookery book Noodle Kids. Developed by award-winning American chef Jonathan Sawyer this book boasts 50 recipes that the …
aka: what to do with all those ignored vegetables at the bottom of the fridge! Let’s talk Lego! My husband, bless his cotton socks, doesn’t do a lot of cooking. He can peer into a full refrigerator and not come up with a single idea for dinner. Shelves of vibrant vegetables get ignored in favour …
Post commissioned by Galloway Cheddar – the family’s favourite Scottish cheddar! Cheese on toast has to be one of the best comfort foods. Ooey gooey creamy melted hot cheese on crispy toast with a soft, fluffy interior – there is definitely a time and place when this meal is required. Grilled cheese sandwiches were a regular …
All the flavour and nearly half the calories! I love a hearty, creamy bowl of soup, me. Especially when the winds are howling outside and you want something warm and comforting. Alas, most creamy soup recipes use a ridiculous amount of double cream – something I just can’t afford to eat right now while I’m trying …
100% plant power! I absolutely love weight lifting. Lifting heavy weights is not something I ever thought would interest me when I was younger, when my active trim self never had to pass a moment’s thought about the food I put into my mouth. I stayed slim naturally. Age, growing three babies, laziness and a …
Packed with the flavour of lycopene rich tomatoes and slow roasted garlic. Nothing beats the humble tomato. Packed full of lycopene, its antioxidant properties and health benefits are well documented. Plus, a bowl of steaming hot tomato soup is the perfect comfort food, wouldn’t you agree? Especially when accompanied by a gorgeous, oozing, freshly made …
Christmas traditions from the island of Crete (a sponsored post) I’ve never been to Crete. For that matter, I’ve never been to Greece either. The closest I’ve ever been was to Sardinia, once, over a decade ago, for a whirlwind weekend adventure away. I do, however, love Greek food – the flavours of lemon, olive …
Icy cold peppermint candy cane flavoured milkshake – Santa’s favourite! Sometimes an idea just strikes. You’re sitting there, minding your own business and then wham! Discworld author Terry Pratchett reckoned that ideas are hurtling through space and time in little self contained units until bam, they hit a sentient being. Sometimes this being is a …
“This was the best birthday party I’ve ever been to!” – 8 year old party guest. This month saw my beautiful, clever and incredibly talented daughter turn eight years old. She doesn’t get a big birthday party celebration every year, but when she does I like to try and make it a little bit extra …
A vegan post workout protein smoothie. Dear Reader, I have a confession to make. I’ve become fat. I’d always been one of those skinny people. When I left high school I weighed just over 7 stone. I was very active: swimming, cycling, skateboarding, horseback riding, climbing (and falling out of) trees in the summer, skiiing, …
Celebrating Shetland food. Cookbooks are a dime a dozen these days. As a food blogger I get sent cookbook after cookbook for review. Many get a cursory look through, a quick write up and then get banished to the bookshelf to rarely see the light of day again. Some I may make a recipe or …
For a leisurely late morning breakfast. Nothing beats a leisurely late morning breakfast when you’ve got all the time in the world to enjoy it. Good coffee, home bakes, quality preserves and a cheeky glass of… Prosecco?! This is what my husband and I indulged in the other day.
Eat one… if you dare! I love Halloween. I mean, I seriously love Halloween. Unfortunately, Halloween in Shetland isn’t nearly on the same scale as the Halloween of my rural Canadian childhood, where houses would be decorated up inside and out (with some teenage twerp invariably blowing up our carefully carved jack o’lanterns with fire crackers). …
A gluten-free Autumnal skillet breakfast crumble. I have a confession to make. I love cold fruit crumble for breakfast in the morning. When the days begin to grow colder I start craving warm puddings like saucy hot fudge pudding, sticky toffee pudding or fruit crumbles. I will often scoff any leftover fruit crumble, cold, straight …
A vegan, all natural, refined sugar free frozen dessert. My ice cream machine died last year. It was a gruesome, horrible death with a cracked bowl and bright blue coolant oozing all over the contents of my freezer. This was the second time this happened (same model) and I haven’t replaced it yet. I’ve had …
