Tag Archives: yoghurt

#449 – Nutella Sandwich Lunch

It’s World Nutella Day today, so in celebration of that naughty chocolate and hazelnut spread I snuck a little sealed sandwich into my lunch box today. Sealed sandwiches doesn’t work so well with the seed loaf I’d usually buy, so I decided to go all the way to the dark side and get a loaf of standard white sandwich bread.

#449 - Nutella Sandwich Lunch

Today’s Lunch:

  • Nutella filled sealed sandwich,
  • chicken mayonnaise sandwich (hiding under the Nutella one),
  • selection of vegetable crudités, including celery sticks, baby corn, carrot sticks & baby tomatoes, and
  • a little tub of strained yoghurt with some Thai pesto stirred into it.

14 Days of Zespri – Day 8

It’s day eight of the Zezpri kiwifruit challenge and today we’re being challenged to share our breakfast with you. I’ve never been able to stomach porridge, since I was a child I’ve always chosen muesli or granola over Pronutro or oats. My preferred way to eat it is with some plain yoghurt and honey. If there is any fresh fruit available that would be chopped up and added to the mix.

Kiwifruit, yogurt and granola parfait

These days I seem to skip breakfast more often than not and a cup of coffee at the office usually lands up being the first thing that passes my lips in the morning. Taking a little time to prepare a quick breakfast makes such a big difference to the rest of my day.

Kiwifruit, yogurt and granola parfait

Layering the kiwifruit, granola and yoghurt in a glass and calling it a parfait just makes it a little more special and really doesn’t take much more time than dumping it all into a bowl. I really need to make an effort and sacrifice ten minutes of warm bed time to make sure I’m starting my day off right.

14 Days Of Zespri – Day 3

For day three of the Zespri kiwifruit challenge I have something a little different for you. It’s made with items you may already have in your fridge or pantry, but it’s not something for you to eat. It’s a brightening kiwifruit mask for your face.

In their raw state kiwifruit are rich in an enzyme called Actinidin. This enzyme helps break down proteins and thus makes kiwifruit a good addition to marinades when you are looking to add flavour and simultaneously tenderize cuts of meat. The Actinidin in raw kiwifruit will also help clean and exfoliate when applied to your skin.

My face mask only uses half a kiwifruit and makes more than enough for two or more applications. It’s best used as fresh as possible, so why not grab a friend and have a little DIY home spa session. While the mask is working it’s magic on your face you can eat the other kiwifruit half and let that Actinidin enzyme aid your digestive system at the same time. This mask left my skin feeling really soft and smooth but it did sting a bit, so if your skin doesn’t react well to fruit acids perhaps give this a skip.

20130910_204749 20130910_204832

Some not so flattering pics of me, face mask and all. Don’t mind the chunky look of the mask, it’s all part of the DIY home spa experience. 🙂 If you prefer your mask chunk free just puree the kiwifruit instead of mashing it.

Ingredients:

  • half a kiwifruit peeled and cut into chunks
  • 2 Tbsp plain yoghurt
  • 1 tsp honey

Method:

  • Mash the kiwifruit with the back of a fork. Stir in the yoghurt and honey.
  • Cleanse your face, neck and décolletage, pat dry and then spread a thin layer of the mixture over this area.
  • Leave for 10/15 minutes before wiping off with a damp cloth.

If you have very sensitive skin, please do a patch test before applying the mask to your face. Also remember to try and avoid direct sunlight after use and apply a decent sunscreen if you can’t avoid being out in the sun.

14 Days Of Zespri – Day 2

It’s challenge day two and I get to show off this Zespri happy yellow kiwifruit lunchbox. If you are a regular reader of my blog you’ll know I’m a sucker for a cute lunchbox. With it’s integrated kiwi side cart and slot to store a spife, this one is pretty nifty.

Smiley lunch

I don’t know about you but this year the seasonal flu bug hit me hard. It’s been weeks since I had the aches and chills, but I still have a lingering cough. With a double dose of vitamin C when compared to oranges, if I’d had a stash of kiwifruit then I could have kicked the flu’s butt.

Today’s Lunch:

  • Three smiley ham and cheese sandwiches on brown bread,
  • carrots sticks,
  • sugar snap peas,
  • a little tub of plain yoghurt flavoured with chopped coriander and a little celery salt and
  • a green kiwifruit.

I made sure to pack a spife too, so I can eat the kiwifruit easily.

14 Days Of Zespri – Day 1

Today marks the beginning of a two week challenge I’m participating in sponsored by Zespri kiwifruit. For the next fourteen days myself and seven other South African bloggers with be sharing different ways we are incorporating kiwifruit into our diets. Keep an eye out towards the end of the week for a nice little giveaway I’ll be holding where you can win a kiwifruit themed hamper and a Fruit & Veg City voucher.

Kiwifruit nutrient density

Kiwifruit are perfectly portable little fuzzy snacks. They taste pretty good and with high levels of vitamin C, potassium and omega-3 fatty acids are really good for you too.

To start things off I thought I’d share a breakfast (or any other time of the day) idea, a simple kiwifruit smoothie. All you need to make this are three ingredients and a blender. This takes just a few minutes to make, but if your mornings (like mine) are frantic and hurried you can also make this in the evening and store in the fridge until needed. Just don’t forget to grab your smoothie from the fridge before you fly out the door.

Kiwifruit smoothie

Ingredients:

  • 1 kiwifruit peeled and cut into chunks
  • 200ml plain yoghurt
  • 1 teaspoon honey

Method:

  • Place all ingredients into the jug of your blender or a tall glass if you are using a slick blender. Blend thoroughly until all the chunks of kiwifruit are  broken down. Once blended you can strain the mixture if you don’t like the little black seeds, alternatively leave them in for an interesting crunch.

This makes one serving, but you can double up the ingredients if you prefer a larger portion or are making enough to serve more than one person. You can add anything you like to this basic smoothie, additional fruit, oats, granola or  a spoon of cocoa powder. The possibilities are endless.

#428 – Sausage and Mash Lunch

#428 - Sausage and Mash

Who doesn’t love a plate of sausage and mash? It’s the quintessential pub meal full of calories and comfort. In my lunch box it may not look so pretty, but it sure does taste good.

Today’s Lunch:

  • Beef bangers,
  • herby mashed potatoes,
  • onion gravy,
  • rainbow swiss chard with feta,
  • baby tomatoes and
  • some plain yoghurt with a swirl of apple butter.

#421 – Greek Pasta Salad Lunch

#421 - Greek Pasta Salad

If you follow me on Twitter you probably read my tweets about my newly acquired bento from The Crazy Store.  Fellow Tweeter and bento fan Amanda pointed it out to me and I’m so glad she did! It’s a great little set and I got to take it out on it’s maiden voyage today.

Today’s Lunch:

  • Greek flavoured pasta salad: pasta tossed with garlicky braised tomatoes, feta cheese, cucumber and yoghurt dressing (recipe below) topped with wilted pea shoots,
  • apple slices,
  • almonds and
  • wasabi peas.

I received a jar of Kara’s Original Greek Herb Dressing in my goodie bag at the SA Food Bloggers Conference earlier this year and since the conference I’ve used it to dress leafy salads and steamed vegetables with great results.  Here is my simple recipe for a Greek flavoured yoghurt dressing using this herb mix.

Ingredients:

  • 3 tsp Kara’s Original Greek Herb Dressing Mix
  • 6 tsp warm water
  • 1/2 tsp celery salt
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 150ml plain yoghurt

Method:

  1. Add warm water to herb mixture and leave to rehydrate for a few minutes
  2. Add celery salt and lemon juice
  3. Stir into plain yoghurt

This is enough to dress half a packet of pasta (250g dried). I think it would also make a great marinade or dip, although if you plan to use it as a dip you may want to use less salt.

#410 – Lentil and Okra Curry Lunch

#410 - Lentil and Okra Curry

I often see okra in my local Checkers but, not knowing how to cook it and having read tales of how slimy it can be, have usually avoided buying it.  After a little internet research I discovered cooking okra with tomatoes reduces the slime factor.  With this knowledge I took the plunge, bought some okra and devised this lentil and okra curry.

Today’s Lunch:

  • Lentil and Okra curry,
  • brown rice with sun dried tomatoes,
  • coriander yoghurt,
  • dried mango and
  • some grapes.

Here is my recipe for Lentil and Okra Curry.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of black lentils
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 2 onions thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 4 tablespoons curry powder
  • 4 tomatoes roughly chopped
  • 2 cups tomato puree
  • 1 cup water
  • 300g okra topped and tailed then cut into 1cm rounds
  • 1 green pepper cut into strips

Method:

  1. Cover lentils with water and leave to soak (overnight is best, but I only soaked them for four hours and this was sufficient).
  2. Fry onions and garlic in olive oil till the onions are translucent.
  3. Add curry powder and stir to coat.
  4. Add lentils, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and water and leave to cook for 15 minutes.
  5. Add okra and green pepper then cook for a further 5 minutes.

Service over rice with coriander yoghurt.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Lentil and Okra Curry

#404 – Paprika Potato Salad Lunch

#404 - Paprika Potato Salad

This salad started out as my attempt to recreate Primi Piatti‘s hot beef salad, I didn’t quite manage the recreation but the salad was still very tasty.

Today’s Lunch:

  • Salad with lettuce,baby tomatoes, baby marrow ribbons, red pepper, cubes of beef and potato slices sautéed with smoked paprika and
  • yoghurt and smoked paprika dressing.