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Food and Lifestyle

Top 5 Easy Homemade Recipes For The Upcoming Olympics Paris 2024 Watch Party

by Admin

Photo by Jessica_Ruscello from Freerange Stock

The Olympics is not just about incredible athletic achievements; it’s also a celebration of global cultures, bringing people together through shared experiences.

As we gear up for the Paris 2024 Olympics (which are on from July 26 to August 11, 2024), if you weren’t able to go to Paris to watch the games, what better way to enjoy the events than by hosting a watch party at home with delicious homemade meals?

Here are five easy recipes that will inspire your Olympic spirit and satisfy your taste buds, all from the comfort of your home.

Chicken Empanadas – Argentina

Do you support Team Argentina or Team Chile? Prepare a batch of empanadas, the national dish of both nations. Empanadas can be made in a variety of forms and with various fillings. This version has soft chicken thighs, peppers, olives, tomato paste, and paprika to boost the flavors. If you’d rather have ground beef, you can use that instead.  

Get the recipe here: Chicken Empanadas

Mac and Cheese – America 

A classic comfort food in American cuisine, mac & cheese is loved by both adults and children for its creamy texture and delicious cheesiness. This classic dish consists of cooked macaroni pasta coated in a creamy cheese sauce, made with a variety of cheeses such as Parmesan, mozzarella, and cheddar. It makes for a hearty and delicious dinner. 

Get the recipe here: Baked Mac and Cheese

Greek Chicken Chili – Greek

This Greek-inspired chili is the perfect dinner for serving a crowd at an Olympics watch party, as it is both filling and light. It is made up of tender dark meat chicken, creamy white beans, and tender vegetables. The stew is flavored with a bouquet of hearty herbs and can be easily prepared in a single pot, resulting in minimal mess and maximum flavor.

Get the recipe here: One-Pot Greek Chicken Chili

Photo by Pixabay

Quesadilla – Mexican

The quesadilla is a popular Mexican dish made with a maize tortilla toasted on a griddle, stuffed with cheese and other contents (meat, veggies), and folded over for eating. A perfect game-day recipe!

Get the recipe here: Quesadilla

Panzanella – Italy

Panzanella is an Italian salad, prepared from soaked stale bread, along with tomatoes, onions, basil, and an olive oil and vinegar dressing. This is a typical summertime Tuscan salad that is made using seasonal, fresh summer veggies.

Other ingredients, including cheese, cucumbers, and olives, can occasionally be added to Panzanella. Panzanella is thought to have been created out of necessity as a way to use undesired ingredients, such as stale bread.  

The dish’s name is a combination of the terms pane, which means bread, and zanella, which means soup bowl.

Get the recipe here: Classic Panzanella Salad

Kibbeh – Lebanon/ Syria

These delectable kibbehs, a national dish in both Lebanon and Syria, can be served as a main course with rice or as an easy starter at the Olympics cocktail party. The grated onions make the kebab juicy, while the use of different spices brings a surprising flavor profile that seasoned meat to perfection.

Get the recipe here: Kibbeh Recipe

The Wrap-Up!

Hosting an Olympics watch party is an excellent way to enjoy great food while celebrating international unity and athletic prowess. These easy homemade recipes offer a diverse range of flavors and cuisines, ensuring there’s something for everyone. Whether you’re savoring a Mexican quesadilla or enjoying comforting mac & cheese, your watch party will be a big hit. Enjoy the games and bon appétit!

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Food and Lifestyle

Eat Real Hummus Salted Chips Review

by Sports Benches

Here’s another healthy snack I tried yesterday at my local Woolworths store with the Eat Real Hummus Salted Chips pack. It’s made out of chickpea flour, rice flour and potato starch that is seasoned with salt. So looks like it’s a healthy way to make these kind of chips that comes in a medium sized pack and they taste not just great but healthy as well both on the outside and inside. They are also vegan friendly, gluten free & with 30% less fat. Gotta recommend this for those who would like to try it during the morning tea break or afternoon tea snack. It’s normally made in the UK but glad they’ve made it to Australia and New Zealand which was my first time trying this healthy veggie chips. And the best part of all is that they’re currently $3.25 for a limited time until mid next week, see it for yourself with the Eat Real Hummus Salted Chips snack at a your local Woolies.

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Food and Lifestyle

Free Range Pancetta Pork slices from Barossa Fine Foods review

by Sports Benches

If Ham and even bacon isn’t enough for you, why not try the free range pancetta sliced pork? The good news is liked the sliced ham, turkey and chicken as you see in the supermarket shelves that this can be a ready to eat product unlike prosciutto where you would have to cook them alongside bacon before you eat it. All in all it’s really perfect for almost anything you like to top up including sandwiches, pastas, risotto (will try to find one not that’s dairy free next time) & pizzas, etc. 

Interestingly enough, I’d like to buy them again next time and use some of the pancetta to make some pizza alongside some good veggies and pizza sauce on top of my own pizza base instead of shredded ham. Sure it will work well like the ready made chicken pizzas I’ve done in the past alongside some chopped tomatoes & avocados. I can also see a great recipe Barossa Fine Foods they’ve got on their website of crispy pancetta with sage scrambled eggs and fried sage. For this one if you’re allergic to eggs and even sage, just swap one with vegan scrambled eggs & rosemary/oregano and you’re good to go on top of fried pancetta!! For now, where you can buy them? It’s $8 at Woolworths with a pack of 10 pieces. 

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Food and Lifestyle

100% Rice Pasta Macaroni Review that is an Asian-style dish

by Sports Benches

Here’s some Asian type of pasta you need to try at home which the 100% Rice Pasta Macaroni whose ingredients and packaging comes from Vietnam. It wasn’t bad when I tasted one with a mix of pork/ham alongside some sauce and a couple of vegetables such as spinach and mushrooms. You can also make this on top of your Asian soup too which can also reflect a really healthy dish through lunch or dinner. Although I haven’t had the chance to yet try the normal macaroni pasta, especially when that is dairy-free but surely that will be something I would like to taste at some point and let’s see whose macaroni pastas is best? But then maybe I think I would pair them best with tomatoes to make it real pasta rather than dairy-free Mac ‘n Cheese where I still have ecezma probably because it has some nuts/cashews, soybeans or B-Carotene on it that does affect skin allergy sufferers like me. For now, see it for your yourself & it wouldn’t hurt to try by boiling your own Rice Pasta Macaroni alongside some good healthy toppings where you can get them anywhere at a local Asian grocery store for $3-4.

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Food and Lifestyle

How to get the best out of your waffles when making one at home with a mini waffle maker

by Sports Benches

I had the chance to make a couple of waffles this week that is straight out of the pancake mix alongside some maple syrup or dairy-free whipping cream if you like. I had a couple different type of waffles off the mini iron waffle maker and although some aren’t perfect but you would need to add up to one cup of pancake mix flour as well as one up of water or rice milk or a mix of both alongside some sugar/monk fruit sugar, a bit of salt, a bit of baking powder and one egg replacer from Orgran.

That way, you will have an even batter on both the dry and wet ingredient sides that is going to turn out well once it’s good to go throughout the cooking process. Again, it’s best to say that less is more including when you pour it onto the iron press with a bit of cooking oil spray beforehand (or will turn out sticky) and your waffles can turn out great with a bit of crisp on the oustide. Also, don’t overload it like putting too much wet ingredients over the dry ones that would look runny at worst unless you add some more pancake mix/flour as if a disaster is waiting to happen & your waffles will 100% collapse at cooking time.

Yes, I haven’t tried the waffles with the waffle mix in it that might be a bit more crispy as it will take a while to find the right product that is both egg and dairy free. Although the ones I tried with the pancake mix isn’t bad as just add some sugar/monkfruit sugar alongside some baking powder and it will be fine. There is still a long way to go for me to perfect these waffles that will hopefully emulate like the restaurant-quality version (we don’t have a lot of Waffle Houses in Australia unlike the USA) but still, gotta say less is more when you make these waffles when you really need them & sure you’ll love it on top of these maple syrup, fruit and dairy-free whipping cream toppings for your perfect breakfast meal to kickstart the day.

And the Prenetti’s Mini Waffle maker product I brought off is a local Harris Scarfe store at around $15-20 dollars at the time as not sure if they still sell these but you should be able to buy one where they got most of the stock online.

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Food and Lifestyle

Woolworths Classic Cumberland Pork Sausages Review

by Sports Benches

Here’s another delicious pork sausages that is straight out of the meat section at Woolworths having tasted the Classic Cumberland pack many weeks ago. It comes in a pack of six where you got a mix of pork alongside some seasoning and spices such as salt, pepper, mace, sage, parsley and nutmeg as well as rice flour & potato starch. All you can do is either cook it into the pan alongside a few drizzles of oil on medium to high heat for a few minutes by flipping the other side at halfway; you can also do it on the air fryer at 190 degrees celcius for 8-10 minutes with the same process at halfway as above.

All in all, it tastes really good which is perfect for sandwiches, wraps, roast meals with vegetables and salads. The cost is currently $8 when I lasted tried out for like $6 that was special for a short time but still the reviews are still mostly positive that might be a bit expensive but keep an out for these sausages the next time that’s on special or you may as well can buy it on special occasions like Christmas. Although the normal 8 pack pork sausages is the one you should look to buy right now if it’s regularly at $6.50 where you can buy more and save more too, which doesn’t have many spices as per above too.

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Food and Lifestyle

How to bread Chicken with breadcrumbs that is both egg and dairy free

by Admin

Image by Sharon Ang from Pixabay

Truly, breading chicken with breadcrumbs is an art in itself that opens up the door to so many more possibilities than one could imagine for diets. It opens the door to veganism, being allergic to eggs, dairy, or just wanting an improved way of breading for health reasons. In this guide, we are going to learn some of the diverse ways and techniques in which one can bread their chicken to be crispy and tasty, all while remaining totally plant-based and allergy-friendly.

Break Down the Ingredients:

Before we go into the recipes, let’s know the ingredients we’ll be using : 

● Chicken Alternatives: Choose plant-based chicken alternatives like seitan, tofu, or tempeh for a completely vegan recipe.

● Breadcrumbs: Just check the ingredient list of the store-bought or homemade variety to ensure they are egg and dairy-free.

● Binders: Eggs are substituted with a number of alternatives such as aquafaba (brine from chickpeas), flaxseed meal, or cornstarch mixed with water.

● Spices: Play around with the spices you could add, such as garlic powder,  powdered chives,  ground bell peppers, dried oregano, nutritional yeast. 

● Cooking Oil: Use high heat oil, like canola, vegetable, or peanut, for frying or baking.

Aquafaba Magic

Breading: Canned chickpeas make a great egg replacer and work really well in breading. Here’s how: 

● Drain a can of chickpeas and collect the aquafaba in a bowl.

● Soak the meat substitute in aquafaba, ensuring they are well coated.

● Pop the chicken into the bowl with seasoned breadcrumbs and toss.

● Repeat the previous steps to obtain the right thickness of.

● Deep fry or bake the coated chicken until golden brown.

Flax Power

Flaxseeds are very nutritious and serve as a good binder in breading recipes. To use flax as an egg replacer in breading mixtures: 

● Mix together ground flaxseed meal and water in the ratio of 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal to 3 tablespoons of water for each egg being replaced.

● Leave for a few minutes until the mixture achieves gel-like consistency.

● Dip the chicken alternative into the flaxseed mix and coat well.

● Bread the chicken in seasoned crumbs.

● Fry, or bake to a delicate brown.

Cornflour Coating:

Cornstarch is another perfect egg substitute in that it adds to the crispy crust. Here is how to use it in your breadingprocedure. 

● Mix cornstarch and water to make a slurry.

● Dredge the chicken sub through the cornstarch slurry, dredging it.

● Move the chicken to the bowl with the breadcrumbs and coat thoroughly.

● Cook again if extra crispy is desired.

● Deep fry or oven-bake until the outside breading is golden brown and the chicken substitute is cooked.

Image by b13923790 from Pixabay

Type of Baking

For the healthier alternative to frying, bake your breaded chicken. Here’s how you do it. 

● Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

● Bread the chicken substitute with aquafaba, flaxseed, or cornstarch.

● Transfer the chicken to the prepared baking sheet.

● Spritz or paint it with some cooking oil to help get it to brown.

● Bake for 25-30 minutes and turn the pieces halfway through to ensure a uniformly crispy breading and full internal cooking.

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Food and Lifestyle

Chan’s Yum Cha Vegetable Gyoza Dumplings Review

by Sports Benches

Earlier this week, I took the chance to try out these ready-made dumplings from Woolworths thanks to Chan’s Yum Cha with the vegetable flavour pack that is both meat free and plant based too. They have 12 pieces in it with some good range of vegetables (only 1-2 greens even though it says a delicious selection of Asian greens) like cabbage, chives, shiitake mushroom & carrot that is covered with a gyoza style of pastry including white pepper to add a bit of spice alongside some salt.

There’s three ways you can do with these dumplings – you can either steam it with boiling water, just throw them in boiling water or pan fry it by adding oil first and then cover it with water. All three options have the same cooking time of 7-8 minutes and wow!! these are oh so good once they come out before it’s all ready to eat. For me personally, it looks really great both ways when I pan fried these dumplings with a mix of healthy veggies on the inside and some crisp on the outside. Gotta say they tasted really good as said when you want to balance the texture and the ingredients of this product, which makes sense for Tasman Foods International to give Chen’s Yum Cha a go on the main supermarket shelves where we always stop by for our groceries everyday. I’d like to try making one though someday off my own with just a little tweaks to my pick of veggies!

The price by the way is $6.95 at Woolworths as you can also try out his other dumplings in Japanese Pork Gyoza as well as vegetable spring roll and he also has some pies too but in Asian-style with the vegetable curry puffs that is originated from Malaysia – all other three products are also same price too. See it for yourself when you can grab one out from the freezer shelves before get things ready (steam, boil or pan fry) that only takes a few minutes at home from Chan’s Yum Cha range.

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Food and Lifestyle

Woolworths Quick Cook Cut Potatoes Garlic and Rosemary Review

by Sports Benches

I thought I would give some ready-made potatoes from Woolworths to simply have it cooked onto the air fryer or an oven if you have one before it’s all good to eat. To get the best out of these frozen baked potatoes, make sure you cook in the air fryer at 195 degrees Celsius for a total of 20 minutes with flipping halfway through. Although it’s best that you don’t overfill them as this might not cook evenly once it’s done regardless of the cooking time & then you have to do it again a bit longer.

That way, it’s best to have some filled into the oven/baking tray unless you have a medium to large oven/air fryer appliance and these potatoes will look golden brown both ways so it tastes delicious. If you’re unable to upgrade your small oven/air fryer, don’t fret as putting them into small batches will still taste great as long as you follow the cooking process at the back.

With that being said, if you really need it for the lunch time or dinner rush on a typical busy day like this then this one is for you. Make sure you have these prepared though if you are going to be out and about way from home. I’d also pair it up with some nice meat as well as roasted vegetables and gravy too if that makes this one look so good in both ways (presentation & taste). This package also comes in Parmesan cheese and Herb and Garlic as these all cost $5 at your local Woolworths store.

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Food and Lifestyle

Muscle Nation Custard Plant Protein Bar Choc Berry 50g Review

by Sports Benches

I’ve just thought it would be a great time to try out a plant-based or dairy-free version of the Cherry Ripe chocolate bar & fortunately, that wish has been realised today thanks to Muscle Nation after I bought one today at my local Coles store.

I might be a bit irked when the coconut flakes may have fallen everywhere but I understand that’s part of the presentation of the final piece. However, I do love how they made the a mix of the gooey cherry jam and the custard filling all on the inside together that makes this dairy-free/plant-based “cherry ripe” chocolate bar so great. I would have it most days of the week during my morning snack, even though it may be a bit pricey compared to the usual cherry ripe chocolate bar. 

Plus, it’s a protein bar even though it’s dairy-free and plant based, which is good for people like me and for those who are on a diet or need to use it to support their training/exercise program. So for kids, you can’t eat it until you’re 15 since it’s not your typical regular snack & for women who are currently pregnant, please consult your physician/doctor before trying this out. But again, I’ll see if there’s any way I can make a dairy free cherry ripe bar that is good to eat at home as a regular snack next time. For now, it’s on special only for a limited time at $3.60 & you can buy it at your local Coles store.

And finally, thanks to Muscle Nation for showcasing a dairy-free/plant-based/vegan “cherry ripe” chocolate. I do wish though that you can make a dairy-free/plant-based/vegan birthday cake bar too.

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