How can it be that a Pork based meal served with a delicious creamy sauce is still healthy and low in calories. Of course if you want to lash out and serve this dish with rice, a pasta bake or mashed potato not only will it take this meal to another level it will increase the calorie count. That is entirely up to you and when feeding a family that is a very viable option and along with vegetables, is almost essential.
Hello, I'm Pauline, a passionate home cook with over 40 years of recipe development experience and over 12 years of food blogging. I live in Tropical North Queensland. What began as a simple way to document family recipes has grown into Happy Retiree's Kitchen, a trustworthy source for achievable, delicious recipes. I'm a self-taught cook and food and travel blogger, and have spent over a decade perfecting how to make home cooking achievable, flavoursome, and very accessible. Let's cook.
Monday, January 19, 2026
Monday, June 16, 2025
Curried red lentil, tomato and coconut soup
Winter has brought soup back to our dining table, and what a Winter Warmer this bowl of creamy lentil deliciousness is. Perfectly balanced herbs and spices with a hint of heat, are a specialty of Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe repertoire, and as a bonus this soup is also nourishing, hearty and gluten-free. It is also vegetarian.
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Slow-Braised Red Cabbage
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Mediterranean Eggplant and Vegetable Lasagne, without the calories
When I first made this vegetarian dish with Mediterranean ingredients and flavours, I wasn't sure if it would pass muster for my recipe blog, or be tasty and substantial enough to stand alone as our main meal. Well, it ticked both of those boxes, in fact Mr. HRK loved it. So did I, and I felt much healthier after eating it, with all that delicious vegetable within.
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Cheesy Spinach Fritatta
This Spinach and Cheese frittata is perfect when served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Frittatas, omelettes and eggs, whether poached, scrambled or fried, are in general a popular choice for brekkie or brunch when we are dining out. Here we have a really delicious frittata that you can easily cook and eat in the comfort of your own home, for 4 people, and very economically. Think comfort food as well.
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Bundt with Lemon drizzle icing
This Cream Cheese Carrot Bundt Cake designed by Donna Hay, is filled with an irresistible cream cheese frosting, the same frosting which is generally reserved for icing the cake with and which everyone loves. Instead, we have baked it in the middle of the cake, where it transforms into the dreamiest, lemony cheesecake filling. Combined with sweet, grated carrot and chopped pecans or walnuts, and generously spiced with ground cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, this cake will also make a delicious dessert.





