Tag: cooking

Vegetarian Breakfast Wrap

squirrelatcorrimal1 Comment

Inspiration is the most fickle and unpredictable little shit I have ever encountered. You give her a lovely welcoming environment, make a big mug of tea, put on your comfiest sweater and get all strands of hair out of your eyes. But she’s checked out for the week, probably off on some Insta worthy holiday taking poolside selfies with a mojito in each hand. When your trecking home in 10 degree weather however, blasting walking on sunshine and practically trotting to stay warm there she is, waving her pretentious little wave just begging you to forgot the fantastic thought before you can get it down on paper. Well not this time missy, some inspiration hit and i will attempt to articulate that and file it away for future use.

So you know a few weeks ago I did a burlesque show. Birthday cake and tits out on stage, remember. If you seriously don’t here’s the link to get all caught up, then pop back here once your situated. So of course since that glittering moment of stardom sans clothing all of my spare brain space has gone to mulling over my next act. Now i have playlists a foot long of songs that could make great, normal Burlesque acts. Some sultry boa shaking, gloves the whole shebang. However as my first act demonstrated, which I know you haven’t seen yet the video and photos they are on their way i swear, I don’t do things completely ‘normal’. My song was from a musical of course, you will learn i am a total musical theatre freak of the highest order, and it was big, fast and i was in a faux leather corset with a riding crop. So for my second act I had to come up with an equally ‘interesting’ concept, at the very least something that spoke to my personality at least a little.

All of the best burlesque performers ooze their own brand of joi de vivre through their numbers. Mae De La Rue wraps herself in mink, sparkles and tiaras and grooves to her favourite tracks which range from classic Hollywood glamour to Elvis hits. Surely Knot in all of her electric energy pulls out the most bizarre concepts, including and not limited to stuffing her face with Oreos on stage as the cookie monster, with goggly eyed nipple tassels no less. So you understand my desire to ‘ooze me’ as it shall here to for be known as. Shut up not in a sexual way, but also a little bit, it is Burlesuqe after all.

So as i bounced along the road bundled up in my most adorable scarf and 60’s inspired wool letterman jacket, i thought about what essence of me i could ooze this time. Baking maybe, it’s been done and could get messy Im not quite game to douse myself in edibles just yet. No i had just the thing, something simple yet luxurious, both innocent and very sexy. Pyjamas. Lesson I’m-not-sure-what-number-we’re-up-to-lets-call-it-5 about me is that my ultimate pleasure, my one true love in life is the glamorous gloriousness of Peter Alexander pyjamas. Since I was exactly 11 when i was gifted my first pair i was in love with how beautiful yet comfortable they were. I didn’t know such a combination could exist in this amazing package, yet they do and they have never lost their magic. Anyway more on my time in bed with the scrumptious Peter for another day, i have settled on pyjamas for my next performance theme. I desperately want to tell you the songs I have picked, but I think in true burlesque fashion i want to tease you a little. All in good time mes petite chou fleur, but you must all be wondering what on earth this has to do with todays blog title.

Well the aforementioned dish, a simple vegetarian breakfast wrap was also a product of some inspiration, as a lot of my dishes are. i’ll often have something delish out, then attempt to recreate it in my tiny kitchen. This one was based on the amazing vegan wraps my local cafe makes, that have saved my ravenous arse at 5: 30 in the morning when i barely make it out the door and into the Uber that i definitely cannot afford to take me to the train station. So i thought it would be appropriate to share this recipe along with my burlesque musing, as it seems to just be the day for a good helping of inspiration. Enjoy and let the #inspo goddess smile down on you, although she probably wont because she’s moody that way.

One step at a time,

Ginger Snap xxx

Vegetarian breakfast wrap

  • Large wholemeal wrap
  • 1/4 tin of chickpeas
  • Lemon juice
  • Salt and pepper
  • Handful of baby spinach
  • 1 tomato sliced
  • Handful of grated cheese
  • Sliced mushrooms and zucchini, baked or sautéed
  • 1 tsp garlic
  1. Mash chickpeas and mix with lemon juice, salt and pepper and garlic
  2. Spread on wholemeal wrap
  3. Layer veggies and cheese
  4. Toast, cut in half and enjoy!

Salmon Pasta Bake

squirrelatcorrimal2 Comments

So in case you needed a refresher, I really love to cook. A shock I know considering the subject matter of my first two blog posts. I’m writing this on a Sunday morning, on my futon couch with a cup of coffee and several cooking magazines scattered around me. One of my favourite monthly rituals is buying a fresh new taste.com.au magazine. I actually work for the company that produce the publication, I even interned for Taste itself. However I still love to go to the Woolworths around the corner from my office and buy a shiny new copy once a month.

Leafing through the glossy pages with immaculate photos of recipes and mouth watering creations, I think how Michelin star restaurant worthy all of these dishes look. With splashes of ingredients you would definitely have to visit speciality stores for, they’re not the most realistic of creations to whip up while I’m meal prepping for the week ahead. None of them would use up the chickpeas and lentils I have sitting in my cupboard, and wow the clean up after every pan in my kitchen would have to be used to prep and cook everything. Not that this often stops me from giving some of them a try, but my versions are usually amended in a more realistic fashion. I take the recipes more as guidelines then actual rules, let them inspire some fresh dishes without breaking the bank.

I’m lucky that I know how to do this, twist recipes to make them work for me with the knowledge that nothing will blow up or burn. However I know so many people who are often hindered by how complicated and elaborate recipes make cooking look. Yes the magazines have to cater to all the dedicated chefs who would make up a lot of their readers, but in this age of convenience and desire for instant gratification i feel like there is a need for more simple and realistic cooking.

Even the health and lifestyle type books and magazines, the ones that promise they can change your life and help you get into healthier habits, seem to forget not everyone is on the salary of an Instagram influencer. They encourage avacado on and in everything, swear a properly cooked sit down breakfast in the morning is their key to better life and they all get at least 8 hours of sleep. Now I for one know that all of these things when you don’t earn a lot of money and commute 3 hours a day are just downright rubbish. There’s a lot of nutritionists and lifestyle personalities that i look up to, Lyndi Cohen for example is amazing. However even she doesn’t quite seem to understand the type of lifestyle so many people live but get very little guidance on.

There are options out there of course, but they are very seldom marketed to us the way a lot of these books and magazines are. This website for instance is something i just discovered mid typing this post, and actually allows you to plug in what ingredients you have at home and generates appropriate recipes to use them up. Pure genius, and yet I had no clue it existed until i really went searching for it. There’s more people on social media these days as well catering to people who need quick, easy and healthy meal prep, real people with tight budgets and 5am wakeup alarms. Work week lunches is one of those people who i scroll through recently to get inspiration from, with a style i can only aspire to.

Contributing to this burgeoning slew of information on cooking for the perpetually busy, tired and uninspired is something i would love to do, and will shoot at from this blog. The title of this particular post is a dish that my mum actually inspired, an ultimate feel good and healthy meal that is perfect for meal prep and is ultra cheap. Give it a go and let me know what you think.

One step at a time,

Ginger Snap xxx

Salmon Pasta Bake

  • 400g tin of salmon or tuna whatever you want to use up
  • Carrots, corn, celery pretty much whatever vegetables you need to use in your fridge
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 onion
  • 300g of pasta
  • White sauce packet mix, anything including ‘cheesy cauliflower’ or normal white sauce will work
  • Grated cheese to sprinkle on top
  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
  2. In a saucepan make up the white sauce according to the instructions
  3. Add tin of salmon
  4. In a fry pan saute garlic and onion, add vegetables and cook until slightly tender
  5. Add the salmon and sauce mix and stir until combined
  6. Cook pasta according to instructions
  7. Add pasta to the salmon and vegetables mix
  8. Pour into a prepared casserole dish
  9. Sprinkle cheese on top, bake until cheese turns golden brown
  10. Enjoy