Long before the Instant Pot hit Australian shores, we’d purchased ours through Amazon (before it turned into Amazon AU!) based on all the hype that we’d been hearing from the US. To this day, it’s been our most used kitchen appliance and has been a life changer for us!

We have the 6L Instant Pot and I use it a few times a week. I love how there’s minimal mess, you can set and forget, there’s a safe pressure release, and cook deeply flavorful meals that would otherwise take a very long time. There are also some dishes such as Chicken Congee that I’ve never been able to cook in a normal pot but turns out perfectly in the Instant Pot.

Below are some of my favourite Instant Pot recipes. The great thing about cooking is that these are all adjustable according to your own tastes.

Instant Pot Main Meals

Beef Stew
Beef and Brocoli
Chinese Chicken and Rice
Spare Ribs and Rice
Crack Chicken
BBQ Pulled Pork
Shrimp Boil with BBQ Shrimp Rub
How to Make Easy Risotto in the Instant Pot
Chicken Congee

Instant Pot Soups

Summer Soup
Sweet Red Bean Soup
Sweet Potato Peanut Stew
Slow Cooked Lamb and Pumpkin Soup
Butternut Squash Soup

I have yet to delve into making desserts such as cheesecake or yoghurt in my Instant Pot but it’s on my ever growing list of things to try!

What are your favourite Instant Pot/pressure cooker recipes? I would love to know in the comments below!

Marie xo

This year is the Year of the Rat and Chinese New Year officially runs from 25 January to February 4th. Unfortunately living in a small rural town means that there are no public events celebrating Chinese New Year, however we had a small hotpot dinner at home to celebrate!

We recently purchased our hotpot with electric grill from one of Aldi’s infamous Special Buys. Although not completely authentic to Chinese New Year, I was still impressed by their Lunar New Year Kitchen and Cooking theme.

For our hotpot, I kept things simple with chicken stock, corn and shitake mushrooms as our soup base. For the hotpot ingredients we had a small array of vegetables, fish balls, noodles, tofu, liver, and prawns. For the grill we had sliced ribeye steak and pork belly.

The dipping sauces are one of my favourite parts of a hotpot and we had oyster sauce, sesame oil and freshly minced garlic. The fresh garlic makes all the difference!

Wishing everyone a prosperous, healthy and happy new year ahead!

Marie xo

Ever since hot cross buns hit the shelves early this year, I’ve been indulging in their deliciousness! Lightly toasted with Nuttelex generously spread on top, they make the perfect snack. This year, I decided to try my hand at making some of my own.

For Easter this year, Coles ran a series of hot cross bun recipes in their monthly food magazine and I loved the look of their Apple and Walnut Hot Cross Buns. So on a warm Saturday afternoon and with the help of my husband who helped to mind Miss K in between the chopping, kneading, proving, and baking, I made my first ever hot cross buns!

Although the taste was a lot milder than the store bought ones, they came out gloriously light and fluffy. The best thing of all of course, was I made them myself!

Are you a baker? If so, what do you love to make at home? I would love to hear about it in the comments below!

Marie xo

Prior to leaving Perth, I knew that I’d miss the wide variety of food, so before we left I was on a mission to re-visit some old favourites and try out some new places that had been on my list.

Clockwise from the top-left:

1. Pancakes at Carillon 2. Phoever Vietnamese 3. Tiisch 4. Riverton Hawker Hong Kei 5. Hong Kong BBQ 6. Honey Cake 7. Ippudo 8. Kung Fu Kitchen 9. Noodle Forum

Where are your favourite places to eat in Perth?

Marie xo

Australia is currently experiencing a heatwave and the past 2 weeks have seen us experience days in excess of 40 degrees! In this heat, I don’t always have the energy or appetite to eat, so sometimes I’ll have a cold smoothie instead. It’s not a meal replacement by any means but it does help to fill me up until I can be bothered to make some food for myself (who else loses their appetite in the heat?). Without further ado, here is my simple Summer smoothie recipe!

Simple Summer Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 Banana
• 1/2 Cup frozen mixed berries
• Sprig of mint
• 1 Tablespoon of Dark Cacao Smoothie powder from SimpleTribe (optional)
• Few splashes of milk
• 4 Heaped tablespoons of Greek Yoghurt

Method:

Put all ingredients above in a blender and whiz up!

Feel free to swap out ingredients and change up quantities depending on your preferences. I really love the smoothie powder as it gives a lovely cinnamon taste and the mint freshens everything up! The thickness of your smoothie can be adjusted by changing up the milk to Greek Yoghurt ratio. If you do end up making this, do let me know in the comments below!

Marie xo