Finding a great snack can be a really hard quest. Sure, that muesli bar might fix those sugar cravings for 5 minutes, or the bag of chippies will hit the spot momentarily, but there are so many more options out there that will do so much more for those 3pm (or 10am, or 8pm) hunger pains. Lisa’s new Smokey Hummus inspired me to come up with some super simple and quick snack ideas that are actually packed with flavour and texture!

First up, we have a crowd favourite; quesadillas! Quesadillas are such a delicious option that really only take 5 minutes to make, start to finish. Smokey hummus, kidney beans, taco seasoning, coriander and cheese fill this one, and it’s finger licking good!

To make the Smokey Quesadilla:

1. Spread one tortilla with 2 Tbsp of hummus. Sprinkle with ¼ cup drained kidney beans, 1 tsp taco seasoning, fresh coriander leaves and a ⅓ cup grated cheese. Top with another tortilla, and dry fry in a pan for a few minutes on each side, or until the tortilla is golden and the cheese has melted.

My second snack is a Mediterranean inspired bagel, pulling inspiration from the garlic and lemon notes in Lisa’s new hummus. A warm sesame bagel is topped with a generous layer of smokey hummus, beautifully squeaky halloumi cheese and a quick little salsa made up of tomatoes, red onion and chives. Drizzle with some olive oil and voila!

To make the Halloumi Bagel:

1. Spread half a toasted bagel with 1 Tbsp Smoky Hummus. Top with 3 pan fried halloumi slices, and a salsa mixture made up on 4 chopped cherry tomatoes, diced red onion and chives to taste. Season and drizzle with olive oil.

Enjoy!

Everyone loves a burger, and even more so, a cheeseburger. I’m a sucker for them, whether it’s crowding around the BBQ making them homemade, testing out your favourite restaurant’s spin on the classic or the odd cheeky drive through run. Now, every family will have their own classic recipe, so I’m not here to tell you how to make the cheeseburger; but, I have created two little sauces that will take your cheeseburger to a whole new realm!

Sour, or spicy. 4 ingredients in each, and 5 minutes to prepare. Slather it on top of your already delicious burgers and you have an added punch of flavour in seriously no time at all. The BEST part? No measurements required. You could add 3tbsp of one thing and a dash of another, keep everything chunky or chop it really fine - it’s completely up to you and your tastes.

For the sour you will need: Best Foods Original Mayonnaise, pickles/gherkins, fresh parsley and lemon juice. Seasoning optional.

For the spicy you will need: Best Foods Original Mayonnaise, sriracha sauce, fresh coriander and sundried tomatoes. Seasoning optional.  

Spread these generously over your burgers and you’ll be in heaven, I promise! For the burger itself, I used Best Food’s own Classic Beef and Cheese Burger recipe developed by Jo Wilcox, and it worked deliciously. If you’d like to try it for yourself, Best Food’s have a food truck (so cool!) travelling around NZ, hitting Auckland, Hamilton & Wellington during May. All you have to do is turn up and you’ll get to try either their tasty Beef & Cheese or Thai Chicken Slider with the magic of Best Foods mayo, on them!

See the dates below:

• Friday 28th of April, 5pm-9pm, Basement Theatre, Auckland
• Saturday 29th of April, 5pm-9pm, Basement Theatre, Auckland
• Saturday 6th of May, 11am-4pm, Northwest Shopping Centre, Auckland
• Sunday 7th of May, 12pm-7pm, Sylvia Park Shopping Centre, Auckland
• Thursday 11th of May, 11am-4pm, Elliot Street car park, Auckland
• Saturday 13th of May, 11am-4pm, The Base Shopping Centre, Hamilton
• Friday 19th of May, The Boatshed, Wellington waterfront

Now that I’ve moved out of home, the excitement of being able to create my own dream Christmas makes the silly season even more exciting than it has ever been. I’ve always had a love for homewares (is that a thing?) and having a blank slate - and blank table -  this year was very exciting. However, with excitement also came the nerves - I mean, where the heck do I start?!
Answer: Where my thinking always starts. Not with what plates or glasses I would use, but with the food! I always end up spending a lot of Christmas Day or the weekends leading up to it cooking meals that, let’s be honest, take a freaking long time. The exact reason that I wanted to have a setting that wasn’t going to overcomplicate the serving of the meal, but still showcase the food and look sleek and festive!

I based my table on a theme of white, metallic gold and rosemary - I know rosemary isn’t a colour, but it reminds me so much of Christmas that I wanted it to be a focal point in itself!

Tip: For the table centrepiece, keep it pretty but practical. The meal will take up most of the available space on your table, so only include what you need along with a few elegant touches.

To start, I picked up theround platter as a base for the centerpiece; the purpose behind this was to have a tray that held the condiments etc, but one that could easily be lifted from the table to make room for food. Plus, I think it looks SO cute. On the tray, I had my salt and pepper grinders by Grosvenor Savoy, a metallic gold candle by Senses (I think this adds such pretty warmth!), a dish for cranberry sauce by Haven Table, and a little glass jug I already had for mustard. I finished the tray with some sprigs of rosemary and cinnamon sticks as I think smells play such a huge part in Christmas memories/nostalgia and both remind me of the holidays; to pretty it up a little bit I also laid down a white peony, a couple of mini gold baubles and funnily enough some white sugar cachous (yep, usually cake decorations!). I wanted to keep the condiments to a minimum as sometimes they can overpower the meal - we will be having ham, so cranberry and mustard work perfectly! Think about what will work best with the star of your meal.

Tip: Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Remember that less is more, pick out a few elegant pieces, rather than overcrowd and over-clutter.

For the individual place settings, I wanted to keep it fairly clean and simple with touches of gold and rosemary. I started with these BEAUT gold placemats by Haven, with a dinner and side plate placed on top (just from my normal whiteware set - any style would work!). For cutlery I went with the 24pc set from Grosvenor Savoy, and white linen napkins by Harven Table Darwin which have a little bit of texture which I love!

To each napkin, I tied these gold glittered antler decorations along with a fresh sprig of rosemary; I love the idea of having a decoration for each guest to take home for their own tree as a keepsake, and these antlers are SO cute. I’ve been on the lookout for some nice wine and drinking glasses, and I found these absolutely stunning ones in store - the My Wine Savana wine glasses and stemless wine glasses which I used for the table setting also! Obsessed is an understatement.

I’m so so happy with how this turned out - I can’t wait to see people sitting around the table enjoying themselves and *hopefully* some delicious food! What do you look forward to most at Christmas? Let me know in the comments!

Tip: For the ultimate Christmas table setting on a Christmas-friendly budget, head to Farmers.

To put together my table setting, I popped along to my local Farmers knowing I could find almost everything I would need and it was great timing as they had 25% to 50% off - there’s been/will be some great deals to scoop up! I’ve linked all the pieces I purchased that can be found online, otherwise every other item mentioned can be found in store.

Thanks to Farmers for making this post possible. All opinions are my own.

Christmas has to be one of my favourite times of the year - I know, that sounds super cliche, but I also know it’s many other foodies favourite holiday as well. What’s not to love? We get to cook for the ones we love, plan cute table settings (#comingsoon) and come up with - or cook up - the perfect gift ideas. I’m always one to want to give in a food-related way, so I thought I’d put together a little post showing you how to put together the perfect foodie gift this festive season. And better yet, it’s one gift idea that suits any foodie, any kitchen, and your budget (whether that’s $25, $50 or even up to a $100 - see below).

At the heart of this gift is a DIY cookie jar - all the dry ingredients of a scrumptious cookie recipe layered up in a glass jar, tied with a cute bow and a tag featuring the recipe - that you can gift to your faves so they can make their own batch of delicious homemade cookies!

I based my recipe off Chelsea from Chelsea’s Messy Apron! Instead of a half, I doubled the recipe to make a ‘full’ batch, and replaced the chocolate chips with white chocolate chunks and dried cranberries for a more festive feel. 

Plus, to make it easier and wayyyy more efficient, I decided to stick to Farmers when it came to doing the shopping. I was in and out in 20 minutes, and was able to find everything I needed! Honestly, I can trust that what I’m buying is high quality and that there will always be a few different price ranges to choose from - an ideal place to be shopping at this time of the year.

I started with a 750ml capacity glass jar that has a classic feel with one of those cute metal seals! I found mine for $11.99 (you can find it here). The ingredients cost me around $3.90, and paired with a nice wooden spoon to make the cookies with, you have your $25 gift! The ribbons and tag are additional, but I think they add a really nice touch.

Now to amp things up a little; the $50 present. So we have our cookie jar and wooden spoon, and what pairs perfectly with these? This gorgeous set of beige tea towels! The set comes as a pack of four, and is the perfect addition to anyone’s kitchen - if you’re anything like me, tea towels are like gold in the kitchen! I picked up this set, which come in a couple of different colours too.

Last but not least, the $100 version! I was trying to think what would tie this baking bundle together when I spotted this beautiful white bowl. It will work perfectly as a mixing bowl for those cookies, but also doubles as a really nice piece of serveware too! An absolute steal, that I finished off with the essential for every kitchen - measuring spoons! Such a simple but practical addition, and I love the neutral tones these spoons come in.
This is a gift I would love to receive as a food lover, and one I am eager to give as well! Whether you want to spend $25 or $100, this gift should put a smile on any food lover’s face.
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Thanks to Farmers for making this post and my Christmas gifts possible, all opinions and content are my own.

Scrambled, boiled, large, small, from a chicken, from a duck, eggs come in more varieties than I can count; and boy oh boy are they underrated. I always forget how amazing eggs really are - they're like that friend that you really don't see as much as you should, but then when you do catch up you remember how much you love them (not that my friends are eggs, but if they were, they're definitely good ones) P.s there is a giveaway running, check out the bottom of this post to see how you can be in to win! 

It's hard to think of a food item that is SO so versatile when it comes to cooking, and the benefits from incorporating a few more eggs into your weekly diet are incredible. We've all heard that they will keep you fuller for longer, but I certainly didn't realise how full of protein, nutrients and vitamins they are. It's incredible to me that that the same thing I can poach and put on top of my toast in the morning is the same item I can turn into aioli that I can smother my breakfast bagel in; now thanks to that segway, let's talk about this drool worthy, 10 minute or less brekky recipe! 

I wanted to come up with a super speedy but hella delicious recipe I can cook up on a weekday morning before work, that makes me feel that I'm eating a weekend brunch dish from my local cafe and gives me a tasty excuse to fry up a golden, runny yolked egg. 

To see how to make this little gem, watch the video above, or read below for instructions! 

Breakfast Bagel (serves 1)

• 1 Bagel, sliced in half & toasted
• Onion relish or jam
• 1/2 cup baby spinach
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 3-5 cherry tomatoes, sliced
• Aioli 
• 2 rashers streaky bacon, pan fried
• 1 fresh egg, pan fried 

To construct the bagel, spread the onion jam on the bottom half of the bagel. Top with the baby spinach, followed by the avocado and tomatoes. Drizzle with aioli, lay the bacon down then place the egg on top. Season, then rest the other bagel half on top and enjoy!

To be into win an egg-themed prizepack, comment below with your favourite breakfast to make with eggs! Competition open to NZ residents only and closes 25th September 2016. 

For my last instalment of this little DeLonghi series I have one final video for you, and an exciting giveaway!

In this last recipe tutorial I will show you how to make a deliciously easy chicken korma, served with rice jewelled with sultanas and coriander, and a super creamy coconut cream raita to serve on the side. This curry is so easy and demonstrates another way to use the Multifry in a completely different way! I love the sweetness from the sultanas and the cooling effect that the raita has on the heat in the curry, this dish is the perfect dinner and ideal for making and popping into the freezer for busy nights where there is little time to cook! Watch the video above to see how I made this dish.

Now for the GIVEAWAY- I'm super excited to say I have one of these amazing appliances to giveaway, which in itself is worth $300! To be into win, leave a comment on this post telling me which of the three recipes I have created for DeLonghi have been your favourite and why! You can find them below this post. Winner will be drawn the 25th January Open to NZ residents only.

Good luck!