lunch – CLARE HOPKINS

A salad to suit the season?

November 16, 2017April 23, 2020Posted in ALL POSTS, HEALTHTagged Australia, beginner blogger, blog, blogging, brunch, cheap, cheap dinner, delicious, dinner, FOOD, fun, guides, happy, healthy, homemade, journal, LIFESTYLE, local, lunch, others, salad, weight loss11 Comments

Reading over and editing this post I realised how many times I used the word Spring. I’m sorry but unfortunately Oxford dictionary doesn’t have any good alternatives.

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We’re getting to the end of Spring over here in Australia, and although I’m excited about the beachy climate that summer is bringing, it’s sad to see those cool, breezy Spring days fade away.

Because Spring is the season before Summer, it’s the time every gym membership goes on sale, Halloween stashes quickly get thrown out, and green smoothies and salads are glorified.

The idea of munching on a bowl of bitter green leaves drizzled with vinaigrette sounds highly unappetizing to me, but with the right ingredients they can taste great and they ensure you are packing your daily greens in.

So, I created the perfect Spring salad, with protein, healthy fats and a range of different flavours.

You will need:

1 medium tomato – reduce risk of heart disease and cancer
135g tinned salmon – rich in omega 3 fatty acids and a great source of protein.
Mixed green lettuce leaves
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Heaped tsp of dried chia seeds – high in omega 3s, fibre, and provide a delicious crunch to the dish.
100g chopped canned beetroot
50g avocado – source of filling, healthy fats.

Cost: AUD 10 Calories: 380

Perfect! xx

Cheesy Eggplant Lasagne for Fathers Day

September 8, 2017April 22, 2020Posted in ALL POSTS, FOODTagged apple crumble, blog, blogger, blogging, connoisseur, creme brulee, dad, delicious, dessert, dinner, eggplant lasagna, family, fathers day, FOOD, fun, guides, happy, HEALTH, home cooked, ice cream, lasagna, lindt, lunch, meal, milk chocolate, photography, Recipes, salad, treat, white chocolate, wordpress, writing4 Comments

When I realised Father’s Day was approaching, I had the annual freak out… What am I going to buy Dad? Is there anything he’s mentioned he wants?

The reality is that Dad never says what he wants and says he’d be happy with a card. Since I’m not going to just wake up, toss him a card and consider my job done, I decided this year I’d cook a big lunch.

I kept it super simple. Dad’s favourites are the plainer dishes; lasagne, sausages, chops, lamb shanks, vanilla ice cream, milk chocolate…

So, I decided to do lasagne, with a twist.

Cheesy Eggplant Lasagne. Think gooey cheese, creamy chickpeas and aromatic tomato arranged together to create a healthier twist on Italian comfort food.

The eggplant soaks up all the delicious creamy tomato sauces and becomes a soft mess that tastes incredible with the chickpea/almond meal base and cheese oozing throughout.

For dessert, we enjoyed my favourite Healthy Apple Crumble recipe with Connoisseur white chocolate/raspberry ice cream (you could go for Halo Top for a lower calorie alternative, Connoisseur is Dad’s favourite).

I also sourced a block of Lindt’s creme brulee milk chocolate – a Lindt flavour I haven’t seen before. I hope they keep stocking the shelves with it because it was the perfect mix of crispy caramel and creamy milk chocolate.

Even though we kept it simple, it was nice to enjoy a home cooked meal. What did you do for Father’s Day?

Mother’s Day Feast

May 14, 2017April 17, 2020Posted in ALL POSTS, FOODTagged champagne, cheat day, chicken, comfort food, dessert, favourite, feast, Jamie Oliver, love, love mum, lunch, mom, Mother's Day, mum, Mum's Day, pink, relax, Sunday Lunch, Sunday roast, treat day, white chocolate mud cake, wine-braised chicken6 Comments

Today was Mother’s Day, and to treat Mum I decided to prepare a lovely Sunday lunch that she enjoyed.

As usual, it took way longer to prepare than I expected. I woke up at 9am and immediately started baking, and was going flat out until 1pm when lunch was served.

For the meal I decided to do wine-braised chicken (with white wine, carrots, red onion, rosemary, red grapes and pine nuts), and an asparagus & grilled halloumi salad.

For the recipe, I stuck to Jamie Olivers recipes from his cookbook. If you follow his recipes well they do come out at restaurant quality.

For dessert, I went all out with Mum’s favourite cake – a white chocolate mud cake. I always use the Taste recipe when I make the cake, but I halve the mixture because the amount they prescribe actually makes 2 regular sized cakes (you could definitely stick with the actual quantities and pile the 2 cakes on top of each other with creamy ganache in the middle).

It was a lovely day, and I treated Mum to a mani-pedi voucher at our local salon, to top the day off.

What do you usually do for mum on Mother’s Day?

The Cafe that Has it All

March 19, 2017April 17, 2020Posted in ALL POSTS, FOODTagged australian food, australian restaurant, authentic australian, beginning blogger, breakfast, breakfast sydney, cammeray, Colourpot, contemporary australian, delicious food, Dining, healthy bowl, healthy breakfast, lower north shore sydney, lunch, restaurant, Sydney, wild sage, wordpressLeave a comment

Wild Sage, Cammeray is a bustling brekkie, lunch AND dinner destination that you won’t want to miss. The menu has such a wild range of food options that even the fussiest eaters could find something to appease them. So bring along your pickiest friends, but if that hasn’t got you convinced their relatively – remember we are talking Sydney Lower North Shore guys – cheap prices will.

I went for breakfast with a friend and was amazed at the array of food options. I found it difficult to choose between their sweet chia pod with coconut yogurt/crunchy granola and their savoury ‘Healthy Bowl’. In the end, I decided to go for the savoury option which was a delicious fusion of avo, grilled haloumi, quinoa, spinach, poached eggs and a shot that had hints of ginger. It was even tastier than it sounds.

You’ll be sitting in a large open room, with lots of other tables so its a great spot for an event or a large group of people. The restaurant is decorated with colourful artworks and pot plants, hung amongst glass panes.

For lunch, I recommend their chilli pulled pork slider bun, which is perfectly tender and will satisfy your spicy cravings. Pair that with a sweet beverage from their extensive drinks menu – perhaps their Pineapple/Mint frappe or fresh coconut water served in the shell.

And there’s more. For dinner, dress up and take a special someone to indulge in one of their share plates. I’m a sucker for good seafood so my favourites would have to be the seared scallops with aioli or the King prawns served with steamy garlic bread. I’m going to be honest with you, the mains do get quite pricey as the restaurant becomes more expensive for dinner. But, it will be worth it when, for $32, you can have Wagyu striploin or marinated lamb cutlets.

As much as I want to delve into explaining all the great food options available, it would take too long. Hop onto their swanky website (which is as beautifully crafted as their food) if you have further foodie questions you want answered (http://wildsage.com.au/)

Give this modern Australian cuisine a go, and enjoy a meal out with friends!

Fairytale Breakfast Destination

March 5, 2017April 17, 2020Posted in ALL POSTS, FOODTagged alexandria, bread & circus, breakfast, breakfast spot, brunch, cafe, clean eating, healthy cafe, healthy eating, lunch, sydney cafes, sydney city, treat, vegan cafe, vegetarian, wholefoods, wholefoods cafe2 Comments

Bread & Circus Wholefoods Canteen combines fairytale and farmers market in Alexandria’s very own Foodie Warehouse. The cafe was just a 15 minute stroll from Erskineville station.

Photo courtesy of http://breadandcircus.com.au/

This cafe gives a new meaning to flexitarian, with great brekkie and lunch options that let you unleash your inner vegetarian (with some cheats).

For breakfast, you can choose to indulge in biodynamic eggs flavoured with parmesan, herbs and truffle oil, or treat yourself to their must-have cardamom spiced banana bread. Each meal is around $20, but if you don’t want to break the budget you can get fluffy biodynamic essene bread with avo for $10.

For lunch you can discover roasted beetroot topped with warm goats cheese or keep an eye out for their ‘sandwich boxes’ with preservative free ham or grass-fed sustainable beef. The menu changes daily, so you’ll want to go back again (and again) for more.

Get your coffee fix with their blends that use beans from Columbia and Guatemala. Tea junkies are spoilt with an array of black and herbal delights, my favourite was the Himalayan Earl Grey.

The canteen has a dreamlike feel with its light wood benches and pastel pink walls, which are bountifully decorated with fresh fruits and veggies.

I went with a close friend, and it was the perfect cafe for brunch to catch up, so definitely make a date and enjoy this hidden gem.

Christmas: the Ultimate Treat Day

December 26, 2016April 16, 2020Posted in ALL POSTS, CHRISTMASTagged bread pudding, cheat day, christmas day, christmas diary, christmas dinner, christmas lunch, Christmas meal, colour pot, delicious, delicious food, desert, eating disorder, enjoy food, festive meal, food coma, fun christmas, healthy, journal, love food, lunch, mindset, perspective, treat day, treat yourselfLeave a comment

I don’t believe in ‘cheat days’ but rather ‘treat days’.

Sounds like a small difference to most, however, in order to foster a healthy relationship with food it has been important for me to redefine what eating junk food means. This meant a slight change in perspective: rather than unhealthy meals being ‘bad’ and a ‘cheat’, I see them as a treat that provides balance amongst my healthier food choices.

Of course, Christmas is all about treats and enjoying lots of wonderful flavours.

I started off the day with a candy cane cookie (Vegan Shortbread recipe, shaped in a candy cane – my friend made them for me) and a T2 Choc Chip Chai.

Then I busied myself making a Bread & Butter Pudding. And of course, I ate half the batter as I was making it. I used Taste’s recipe for it. Despite my affinity for anything with chocolate, B&B Pudding is still my favourite dessert.

To make the B&B pudding a little more nutritious, I added two eggs (six eggs total), took out the pure cream, and substituted the cows milk for almond milk. If you want a dairy free recipe you could try coconut cream, coconut milk and Nuttelex as your cream, milk and butter substitutes.

I find it’s fun to ‘healthy-fy’ recipes where I can – it was still just as delicious, and reduced the richness of the pudding so I could enjoy other things!

Just before lunch, we had assorted cheeses (Camembert, Brie, Cheddar) with biscuits, salami slices, bread sticks, chopped veggies with avocado dip and tomato relish. These were savoured with mulled wine and champagne.

For the main meal, there was an array of dishes but I chose smoked ham, roast chicken and prawns, with a side of a quinoa, kale and roast beetroot salad that I tossed together.

What’s important with Christmas is your mindset. Don’t go crazy all day on Dec 25 and then try to restrict calories for the rest of the week – you’ll just end up having a crap holiday. Rather, listen to your body and eat until you are full, enjoy the treats you wouldn’t normally enjoy, and eat intuitively for the days after. Your body will naturally crave fewer calories after a full day of Christmas eating!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a lovely day, whether you celebrate Christmas or not.