Spanakopita {carb free}

You may have read (or even tried) my Spanakopita recipe from a previous post. It's one of my favourite non-meat dishes....but it's very carby....which is no good for my weight loss plan. It's not something we eat everyday, but I do get the odd craving for it and to think I have to give it up forever would be torture. So, after chatting with my PT Elizabeth, she suggested I try to make it WITHOUT the pastry...makes sense huh? 

So, I did...and I cut out a little extra fat while I was at it.

here 'tis

1 Bunch of silverbeet (Swiss Chard), washed, chopped and steamed

or 1 packet of frozen spinach, thawed

150g low fat feta

200g fresh,low fat ricotta

2 or 3 eggs

1/2 brown onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

salt & pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl

spray a non-stick muffin tin with cooking spray

or line with those silicone muffin cases

fill with mixture (it won't rise much)

bake at 180C for 15-20 mins or till set.

serve with salad

You won't even notice the pastry is missing....yum!

Cold frame gardening

So, tomorrow is the first day of Winter here in Australia and it's been really cold in Melbourne (for a while).We still want to grow some veggies over winter, so we thought we'd try using a cold frame. I saw them advertised at Bunnings, so off we went.

Mr 3P only took a few minutes to assemble this and 2 will fit just nicely on each garden bed, although we only got one for now, just too see how it goes.

Of course, I have to take weird photos of a cold frame!

But I did plant some seeds too! Over one half, I planted rocket, which I absolutely LOVE and on the other half of the cold frame I planted winter spinach.

OK,  I can't help my self with the weird shots of condensation. I can sit and stare it it for ages .

While I was out in the garden this morning in ballet flats of all things ( I must get some gumboots), I thought I'd get a few shots of some things that are still kicking on in the cold. I planted these succulents, which I got from the kids school fete earlier this year,  in the old water feature. I just filled it with a sandy potting mix and some soil (Mr3P drilled some holes in the bottom of the water feature for me), then popped them in randomly with a few rocks.

Please don't ask me what type of succulents they are, 'cause I don't have any idea.

But they are very sweet, don't you think?

These guys have already spread and multiplied, so that's good.

Parsley really kicks on here in winter. I make a mean tabbouleh ( recipe coming soon )

And of course if you plant mint anywhere near a garden tap it will go nuts! Mixed amongst our mint is also some lemon balm and soon (fingers crossed) some chocolate mint, which I saw at Bunnings the other day and have to go back and get!

This little dude is holding on and growing very slowly, but it's still growing. We planted this orange tree about 6 years ago and Mr3P will not give up on it. This is the first time it has shown any fruit. 

Any advice you can give me on winter gardening or using a cold frame would be greatly appreciated. Till next time....

Linking up to these great parties

http://www.allthingsheartandhome.com/

http://www.abeachcottage.com/