Blog

Lunch Lady vs Green's Classic Carrot Cake

Lunch Lady vs Green's Classic Carrot Cake

Two old school classics back to back! I almost sound like a classic hits radio station. Pep and I were walking around the supermarket yesterday morning and we spotted the carrot cake packet mix, Pep loves MY carrot cake (actually I use Tessa Kiros's carrot cake recipe, as no matter how I try,...

Read more

Award Winning Lamingtons

Award Winning Lamingtons

When I first moved to the country 7 years ago I really wanted to do the most 'country' things I could, like having a stall at the local market, joining the CWA and entering the local show. The first time I entered the Castlemaine and District Agricultural Show I chose...

Read more

This Song Changed My Life

This Song Changed My Life

Have you got a song that just spoke to you at the right time. It said everything you were feeling when you felt no one else was feeling it? This song came on my shuffled playlist this morning and I had to share. I had totally forgotten about it. But...

Read more

Brown Rice with Broad Beans, Peas + Buffalo Mozzarella

Brown Rice with Broad Beans, Peas + Buffalo Mozzarella

It was my father in-law’s birthday last weekend. We took a drive to his house in the country, in his backyard was the most wonderful veggie garden. Not one with neat straight rows, but one which was wild and overgrown with edible vegetation. The plants were ten times the size...

Read more

Dips and Flatbread Make Lunches a Cinch

Dips and Flatbread Make Lunches a Cinch

Each Tuesday Lunch Lady will be bringing you simple recipes and ideas for your kids lunch boxes. This week we are starting with something I find one of the GREATEST lunchbox ideas ever, dips and flatbread. The reason I love both of these so much is you can use them...

Read more

Lunch Lady vs Birds Eye Deli Seasoned Chips Sea Salt + Rosemary

Lunch Lady vs Birds Eye Deli Seasoned Chips Sea Salt + Rosemary

This was a fun one to take on, as I live in potato farm central. Nearly all of the potatoes grown around me make their way to factories to make these very products. It is CRAZY that I am unable to buy a bag of spuds grown on the surrounding farms at the local supermarket, instead I...

Read more

We Should Really Do That One Day, Today is That Day

We Should Really Do That One Day, Today is That Day

We Should Really Do That One Day, Today is That Day 4 November 2014 You know those things you think would be nice to do with the kids one day. But in reality that day never comes around. Well today is that day. The girls and I have driven past...

Read more

Lunch Lady vs Aeroplane Cheesecake

Lunch Lady vs Aeroplane Cheesecake

I know it might be unAustralian to have a crack at the Aeroplane company, but this challenge really puzzled me. It was my big kid who posed this challenge when she found it on the supermarket shelf. We were confused as to how you make a cheesecake from a packet, without cheese....

Read more

Not Today, I'm Hanging With My Kids

Not Today, I'm Hanging With My Kids

I am a busy person. And most of the time it is because I choose to be. I don't like being still or bored. I get quite agitated. I spend a lot of time working. I would work day and night if I didn't have a partner to yell at me...

Read more

Happy Lives Are Hard Work

Happy Lives Are Hard Work

In 1996, I was 20. I moved in to a crumbling art deco apartment on busy Barkly Street, St Kilda. I had minimal possessions, the most important of them being my 3000+ CD collection and my coffee percolator. If that was all I had, I was fine. Nothing much has...

Read more

Drop What You're Doing – It's a Healthy Snickers!

Drop What You're Doing – It's a Healthy Snickers!

If you've haven't seen Jade's FAMOUS healthy Snickers recipes EVERYWHERE lately, where have you been! Lucky for you, she is one of my besties and I am lucky enough to share it with you here too. Take it away famous Jade. x Never have I been more excited about something...

Read more

Bagels, Balls and Living Life Your Way

Bagels, Balls and Living Life Your Way

Bagels, Balls and Living Life Your Way 27 October 2014 I know it looks like there hasn’t been much happening in Lunch Lady land lately, but I can assure you, nothing can be further from the truth. Things are happening, for sure, and all will become apparent very soon! BUT,...

Read more

The Queen of Head in the Sand

The Queen of Head in the Sand

to put our head under the pillow and think "if I can't see the problems and they can't see me, they don't exist". This is how I have lived most of my life, it is hard to admit that. The older I get the more I am understanding that problems...

Read more

Lunchlady vs Greens Pancake Shaker

Lunchlady vs Greens Pancake Shaker

Sunday is our day for pancakes. There is no hurry. No real reason to rush anywhere, perhaps the treasure market later in the morning. My pancake making rewards me with love and affection. The girls (apart from my forever savoury tooth) wolf these bad boys down and before I have...

Read more

If at First You Don't Succeed…

If at First You Don't Succeed…

If at First You Don’t Succeed… 8 August 2014 Something amazing happened this morning. I made a loaf of bread. Now most of you might think that this is not amazing at all. A lot of you may think I am a born baker who can whip magic out of...

Read more

Ash's Same Ol' Crap, The One Bowl Wonder

Ash's Same Ol' Crap, The One Bowl Wonder

Ash’s Same Ol’ Crap, The One Bowl Wonder 7 August 2014 This chick is another recent addition to my women folk friends. We have known of each other for quite a while, it is all very Melbourne, sharing friends, circles over lapping circles. But we both now live in the...

Read more

Why Are Mums Channelling Derryn Hinch?

Why Are Mums Channelling Derryn Hinch?

Why Are Mums Channelling Derryn Hinch? 6 August 2014 Shame… Shame… Shame… Mum Shame… Mum shaming, it is a thing isn’t it? Mum’s who don’t agree with another mum’s ideas and dragging them over the coals. I really struggle with this. I have actually always struggled with how women turn...

Read more

Accepting Faults and Winter Brownies

Accepting Faults and Winter Brownies

This year, for me, I liken to those doors that revolve out the front of fancy buildings. Whooshing me in and out of my day to day life, to big cities, deserted islands and beachside shacks. It all sounds amazing, and it is, but I have to admit, I have...

Read more

Emma Dean's Same Old Crap, Rhubarb Cake

Emma Dean's Same Old Crap, Rhubarb Cake

Emma Dean’s Same Old Crap, Rhubarb Cake 21 May 2014 This woman, Emma Dean, is amazing. She has only been in my life for a little while, but she has made a huge imprint. We love her in our home, the girls love her too, and kids know stuff. She...

Read more

Miso Love Veggie Soup

Miso Love Veggie Soup

Miso Love Veggie Soup 20 May 2014 How good is this time of year? It is my ultimate. The season I look forward to more than any other. The light is amazing, the weather is perfect and those colours. It is also my fave lunch making season. It is the...

Read more

When Life Gives Me Lemons… Sometimes I Just Squeeze Them in All My Open Wounds

When Life Gives Me Lemons… Sometimes I Just Squeeze Them in All My Open Wounds

I buried myself in to a little hole. It started off as a little rut, then I got sad about being in a rut so I dug a hole. Then the hole became bigger and before I knew it I was wallowing in an open cut mine of misery. I...

Read more

The 'Holy Moly It's Easter Already' Orange and Almond Cake

The 'Holy Moly It's Easter Already' Orange and Almond Cake

Is it just me, or do these holidays just seem to appear out of nowhere? One minute you're driving to and from school, the next you're hosting friends and family for days on end of eating, drinking and egg hunting. Easter is a beautiful holiday, it is in my favourite...

Read more

The Easiest Brownies on the Planet

The Easiest Brownies on the Planet

An unreal lunchlady reader emailed me a recipe for zucchini brownies after I posted the chocolate zucchini cake a while ago. I was pretty excited to make them, but then my email had a meltdown and I lost my entire inbox (yay and sad all at once). It was a...

Read more

Secret Pear Pie

Autumn has come and she is beautiful. It is still warm enough to not be uncomfortable, but cool enough to rug up in your favourite coat and scarf. The soft gentle rain and the low cloud make these days dreamy. It was the perfect day to check up on our...

Read more