Weeknight meals ... the 2026 edition

Seventeen years ago (!) I started an Excel spreadsheet recording all the dinners I cooked at home. Over the years I've become more efficient at producing tasty, nutritious, quick meals. On the one hand, the annual number crunch indicates quite a lot of repetition; on the other, we're (mostly) enjoying healthy, delicious food that isn't over-complicated and leaves plenty of time for the many other delights of semi-retirement: gardening, reading, socialising, exercise, volunteering …

So, here's what I cooked most between April 2025 and April 2026:

creamy tuna pasta
hearty vegetable and barley soup
pasta and sauce
macaroni cheese
kimchi and cheese jaffles
scrambled eggs with feta and crispy chilli
spinach and feta triangles with veges
nectarine, rocket, haloumi and pecan salad
spinach and feta quiche
tomato fondue

A couple of new favourite recipes this year have been paneer fried rice and crispy haloumi with tomatoes and white beans. Apparently we need extra protein as we age, so I'm trying to be conscious of including plenty of legumes, eggs, nuts and cheeses in our diet, particularly as I rarely cook meat anymore.

Cheers!

For about two weeks each year, Majura Valley Farm becomes

a sunflower maze. Andrew and I enjoyed a lunchtime

walk among the flowers and the artworks last month

On the hunt for protein ...?

We all need more chick peace in our lives

(sign spotted in Sri Lanka in 2023)

I've been doing boot camp classes for almost ten years and they're great fun. I started doing them, at my then workplace, as a way to regain strength after fracturing my humerus in 2015, and enjoyed the classes so much that I continued attending even after I left that job eight years ago. (Funnily, a bunch of other regular attendees are also ex-employees. Or even spouses of ex-employees :-)

Anyway, some of the group are doing a February protein challenge where they are trying to consume extra quantities of protein this month. The mid-exercise conversation today turned to how to reach the goal, which got me thinking about recipes that might be packed with protein. I'm not much of a meat eater so dishes featuring legumes, nuts, soy and dairy products sprang to mind. Here are a few meatless ideas that might boost protein intake:

Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce

Cheese souffle

Chickpea delight

Dal makhani

Lentil, cauliflower and sweet potato soup

Mushroom, lentil and rice casserole

Nachos

Palak paneer

Peacamole dip

Rocket and haloumi salad

Shakshuka

Spanish omelette

Sri Lankan lentil curry

Tandoori tofu salad

Teriyaki tofu and veges

Vegetarian shepherd's pie

Zucchini, basil and feta fritters

and for dessert …

Chocolate cheesecake

Orange and almond cake

Portuguese tarts

Wattalapam

Enjoy!

Chocolate cheesecake re-re-engineered

Chocolate cheesecake just got even easier to make! I've tinkered with this recipe over many years, removing the sugar from the base (it's sweet enough without it), halving the sugar in the topping then deleting it altogether, deleting the egg whites and increasing the amount of chocolate. It works well.

First, make the base

200 grams plain, sweet biscuits [I like to use Malt or Digestive biscuits]
100 grams butter

Crush the biscuits. Melt the butter and combine well with the crushed biscuits. Press the mixture onto the bottom of a foil-lined springform pan and chill.

Next, make the cheesy topping

250 grams cream cheese
200 grams chocolate [milk, dark or white]
300 ml pouring cream

Soften the cream cheese a little and beat well. Melt the chocolate over a bowl of hot water or in a microwave. Allow the chocolate to cool slightly, them combine with the cream cheese mixture. Whip the cream. Combine the chocolate and cream mixtures well, and pile on top of the base. Decorate with extra cream, grated chocolate, or fresh fruit. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Back to Timor-Leste

I first visited Timor-Leste in 2018, as part of a study tour, and last week I returned. It's a fascinating place … exotic and chaotic, the opposite of Canberra's clean, controlled streets. A bunch of people have asked to see photos and I'm afraid I didn't take many this time. Too busy soaking up the experiences and the atmosphere. You can see photos from my 2018 trip here and here and here if interested. Anyway …

Sunset on the beach in Dili

(Ahem) gin cocktails at Hotel Timor

The main event: I attended the inauguration

of a school I'd helped contribute to

Remembering murdered journalists in Balibo

Ruined building at Balibo

Watching the film Balibo at Balibo.

Very poignant.

Cute critter

Brekkie at Balibo Fort Hotel.

Mie goreng. Delicious!

Tropical flowers at Balibo

When several malae (foreigners) trekked to see a magnificent waterfall

near Balibo, a bunch of kids from the nearby village joined us. The

little girl pictured, Amana, grabbed my hand and kindly

helped prevent me falling into various streams!

Obrigada barak, Amana :-)

'Only Timorese coffee is allowed in heaven':

spotted at Agora Food Studio

Portuguese tarts at a Dili café

Timor-Leste is very close to Australia, about a one hour flight north of Darwin. A beautiful place.

Brekkie @ a bunch of places

I've been very remiss lately and failed to blog! Too busy living my life to blather on about it. But Andrew and I have continued our weekend breakfast adventures and have tried some new places and tastes among all the old favourites lately. For example …

At Frankie's at Forde, he ate:

Frank's brekky

And I had:

Smashed avo

At The Irvine Cafe & Bar, at Florey, I enjoyed:

Vegan rosti stack

while he had:

Mexican eggs

At Stepping Stone, Dickson, I finally tried something different (having become addicted to their Turkish Eggs):

Golden Goddess (spiced scrambled tofu)

while we checked out Café Cultura in Civic last weekend and were delighted by:

Turkish breakfast for two

Last but not least – and this was eaten for lunch rather than brekkie – my meal yesterday at Al Manoosh Lebanese Bakery in Mawson was spectacular:

Labne, zaatar and veggies

Three cheers for Canberra and its wonderful food options!

New Zealand: the 2025 edition

Every second year or so Andrew and I go to New Zealand to catch up with my family. This time we went in late May and early June, and have made a mental note to go earlier in the year next time, as several tourist attractions had closed for the winter already. Anyway, there's not much to report. Apart from spending time with family, the trip was largely about eating, drinking, and walking. Some highlights:

Wellington coffee @ Lazy Juan

Chilli oil eggs @ Kind Wish Café, Kelburn

Whanganui River (at a rare, non-raining moment)

Tram ride! Whanganui

Virginia Lake, Whanganui

Lunch @ Tasty Indian Restaurant, Whanganui

Double decker bus in Whanganui

Dinner @ Tasty Indian Restaurant, Whanganui (yes, we went there twice)

Coffee @ Jolt Coffee House, Whanganui

OMG! Deconstructed lemon meringue pie @ Union Square

Bistro & Bar, Martinborough. A revelation :-)

Nasi lemak @ Little Penang, Wellington

More Wellington coffee!

Lunch @ Curry Heaven, Newtown, Wellington. We used to go to

their CBD branch but it closed so we tracked them down to the suburbs

The Wellington Cable Car (funicular railway)

Thanks to Andrew for (most of) the pics. He thoroughly documented the trip.

Farewell, NZ. See you next time.

Feijoa smoothie

It's feijoa season! The feijioa – sometimes nicknamed pineapple guava due to its pineapple-y flavour and guava-ish texture – is well known and easy to find in New Zealand but not so common here in Australia. I have two feijoa trees but, sadly, they've never produced fruit. Our neighbour has a large tree that presses up against our fence, though, and I gratefully receive any fruit that falls over the fence or rolls underneath it :-)

Mostly I eat the feijoas simply by halving them and scooping out the flesh, but today I experimented and made a smoothie. Four small feijoas, a couple of tablespoons of coconut yoghurt, and some iced water. Delicious!

We're off to New Zealand in two weeks and I'm hoping feijoas will still be available there. NZ feijoas are gigantic and plentiful. Fingers crossed ...

What we ate this year

I've been keeping a spreadsheet recording what I cook for (ahem) sixteen years now, and every year I tally up the most-eaten meals. Our diet (at home, at least) has become almost vegetarian along the way. This year's star performers were:

spinach and feta triangles, served with veges
scrambled eggs with feta and crispy chilli
creamy tuna pasta
kimchi and cheese jaffles
vegetable curry (Indian, Thai or Sri Lankan)
pasta and sauce
macaroni cheese
vegetable and barley soup
spinach and feta quiche
Sri Lankan cashew and pea curry
tomato fondue

Most of these things are cooked from fresh, simple ingredients, though a couple (such as the pasta sauce, and the tinned tomato soup that forms the base of the fondue) have some unpronounceable ingredients. I've just finished reading Chris van Tulleken's book Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn't Food … and Why Can't We Stop? and am feeling very aware of the environmental and physiological harms caused by the modern food system. I expect I'll spend more time thinking about what to eat in future.

No, I didn't cook this! But isn't it beautiful? We spent a week on Lord Howe Island last October and ate this meal at Driftwood. Something with noodles and chilli and tofu and peanuts and coriander. Sublime.

Choley bhature may be addictive ...

The choley bhature at Bharat International in Belconnen is amazing. Chickpea curry, salad, pickles and two gigantic puffy hunks of bread. There are many other things on their menu, and it's all good, but I can't resist ordering this dish every time I go.

Bharat is at 1/17 Oatley Court, Belconnen, ACT 2617 and comprises both a restaurant and a South Asian supermarket.

Brekkie @ The Lott Café, Cooma

Last week Andrew and I spent three nights in Jindabyne, at the base of the Snowy Mountains. We've been there many times before. A great little town! It gets crazy busy in winter, due to the nearby ski fields, so we like to visit in autumn and spring when it is quieter. Anyway, en route to and from Jindabyne we stopped at The Lott in Cooma for coffee and breakfast. Delicious.

We started with coffee:

then he had:

A Bit Irish (Colcannon potatoes, poached eggs,

black pudding, white pudding, plum sauce)

and I had:

Avo Rosti Stack (smashed avocado, potato rosti, feta,

beetroot, snow pea shoots, chimichurri and mixed seeds)

Nom nom.

A sunflower maze in Canberra!

This blog has mainly become my online recipe book. I barely post anymore, though I often pop by for recipes. Just lately it's been pumpkin bread, rice paper rolls, peacamole and carrot and coriander soup.

Anyway … we recently spotted a story on Canberra's news blog, The Riotact, about a local sunflower maze. It's only open for two weeks (closing on 16 March) so Andrew and I bought some tickets, grabbed a picnic lunch, and headed out there today. Delightful.

Thanks to Andrew for the photos.

Brekkie @ Highroad

Well, well, well. I'd never been to Highroad in Dickson before. Not for any deep and meaningful reason, but simply because Canberra has soooo many fabulous eateries it's hard to try them all. Anyway, my friend Michelle invited me to Highroad for breakfast today. What a treat. It was delicious. We started with coffee and hot chocolate then Michelle had:

Tropical chia pudding with coconut milk, rhubarb,

dried apple, pineapple, citrus peel and strawberry foam

and I had:

Tzatziki eggs: fresh cucumber, poached eggs,

radish, sumac, evoo*, chilli oil and focaccia

Nom nom! My dish was reminiscent of the Turkish Eggs served at Stepping Stone (another wonderful find in Dickson). We ended the meal with (ahem) more coffee and hot chocolate, to give us an excuse to keep sitting there and chatting. Nice to catch up. It had been a while. Anyway, recommended! Thanks Michelle.

* yep, I googled evoo. Turns out it means extra virgin olive oil :-)

Snickerdoodles!

We kept hearing snickerdoodles mentioned on American TV shows. What are snickerdoodles?! A little bit of googling suggested that they're soft, fluffy cinnamon cookies. The recipe I tried is here:

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/soft-thick-snickerdoodles-in-20-minutes/ 

Turns out they're both easy and delicious. Enjoy!