Are you feeling the Friday love, Feasters? I am. Not only to my beloved Sydney Swans, THE best looking AFL team in the comp, take on the Collywobbles tonight at the mighty MCG, I have a gorgeous new author on today. Humorous and heart-warming women’s fiction in the name of Juliet Madison’s game, and does she deliver!

I know this because I’ve read her wonderful short story, Sisters At Heart. But Juliet now has a full length novel out, and if the raves from my writing buddies and multiple Goodreads 5 star ratings are anything to go by, it’s a beauty.

Take a look at Fast Forward, a romantic comedy with a time twist.

FAST FORWARD

Aspiring supermodel, Kelli Crawford seems destined to marry her hotshot boyfriend, but on her twenty-fifth birthday she wakes in the future as a fifty-year-old suburban housewife married to the now middle-aged high school nerd.

Trapped in the opposite life of the one she wanted, Kelli is forced to re-evaluate her life and discover what is really important to her. Will she overcome the hilarious and heartbreaking challenges presented to her and get back to the body of her younger self? Or will she be stuck in the nightmare of hot flushes, demanding children, raunchy advances from her husband and hideous support underwear forever?

Doesn’t that sound fun? Well, you could have Fast Forward all for yourself with just a few clickety-clicks. Buy the ebook direct from Escape Publishing, or from Amazon US, Amazon UK, iTunes, Kobo, Google Play and Barnes and Noble’s Nook. You’ll even find it on JB Hi-Fi’s new bookstore.

Go on. You’ll have a fabulous time. Done? Excellent. Now you can play with Juliet.

Delicious ‘Deadline Dinner’

Is this you when you’re trying to write, and the kids, husband, partner, or pets are asking “What’s for dinner? I’m staaarrrving!”?

Okay, maybe in the case of pets it’d be more like “Meow? Meoooow!” or “Woof? Woooofff!” or “Neigh? Neeiigghhh!” or … hang on, what exactly do fish say?? Anyway, maybe it’s you every night, regardless of whether you’re writing or not 😉

If you’re on a deadline or just plain busy, when that dreaded moment arrives and you’ve forgotten to defrost some variation of meat or poultry, bring on the no-fail substitute – eggs! Eggs are a powerhouse of protein and nutrients and can be turned into endless combinations of meals. But wait – what about those fussy kids that say “But Mum, I HATE eggs!”? Never fear … the egg-hating cure is here! (Okay, I can’t guarantee that my choice of recipe will be loved by all egg-hating little rascals darlings, but my son doesn’t eat eggs yet he LOVES this recipe.)

This recipe is also good for those who aren’t exactly MasterChefs in the kitchen (you know who you are), as it’s an all-in-one, chuck-everything-in-the-dish kind of meal. It’s the perfect quick meal for someone like the character, Kelli McSnelly, in my romantic comedy novel, FAST FORWARD. She’s a twenty-five-year-old model who’s used to eating gourmet meals cooked for her at hip restaurants, but when she’s suddenly transported into the future and finds herself as a fifty-year-old housewife, she has no idea about such lowly domestic chores as cooking.

Okay, so far we know it’s quick, easy, tasty, and perfect for the more amateur among us, but it’s also very healthy. Have I lost you? Have you closed this page and opened another browser window and Googled: ‘decadent cakes’ or ‘choc-chip cookies’? No? Good. This recipe is high in protein, low in carbs, and high in vitamins and minerals. It’s gluten-free, dairy-free (unless you use regular milk in place of my non-dairy option), and guilt-free.  It’s also easy to make extra, and can be frozen, which means when you’re really, really busy or you’ve got four minutes and twelve seconds to deadline on your manuscript, you can whip out one you’ve prepared earlier, zap it in the microwave, and voila – instant dinner! Or Lunch. Or Breakfast.

I was going to call it the Easy Family Frittata, but decided on something a little more exciting… the Deadline Frittata.

Deadline Frittata

Now before I share the recipe, I must confess something. I’m not the most exact recipe creator or follower. I’m more of a ‘add a bit of this’ and ‘chuck in a bit of that’ type of cook, so these quantities aren’t necessarily exact, but they do the job. You may like to adjust more or less of some ingredients to suit your preferences, or even add a few extra ingredients. There’s plenty of room for variation here.

This recipe serves 4, so if you have more hungry mouths to feed, adjust the quantity as needed with the rule of ‘one to two eggs per person’ (young kids may need less).

Ingredients:

6 large eggs or 8 small eggs

1/4 cup of rice milk or soy milk (for dairy-free option. Otherwise use regular milk).

1/4 cup almond meal

Salt & pepper

A pinch of nutmeg

1 tablespoon of fresh, chopped chives, or 2 teaspoons of dried chives

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric (optional)

1 tablespoon of chopped red/Spanish onion (why are they called red? They’re purple!)

1 grated carrot (small-medium), or half a large carrot.

1 grated zucchini (“But Mum, I don’t like zucchini!” – don’t worry, they’ll barely know it’s there ;))

2 slices of ham, cut into small pieces (you can skip this if you don’t have any, or even add smoked salmon)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Line a round pie dish with baking paper.

3. Whisk the eggs together in a bowl or jug.

2. Add milk, herbs and spices.

3. Add onion, carrot, zucchini, and ham, and mix together with a fork.

4. Add almond meal to thicken (and for extra protein and nutrients), mix well.

5. Pour into pie dish (If you have really fussy eaters and don’t need dairy free you can also add grated cheese to the top).

6. Bake in oven for around 30 minutes or until just firm in the middle (and while you’re waiting – get back to your writing!)

7. Cut into quarters and serve with salad. Sometimes I also make sweet potato wedges to go with it.

Keep any unused portions in the fridge for up to a day, or freeze portions separated by baking paper.

So there you go, enjoy!

Do you have any ‘Deadline Dinners’ that you whip up when you don’t have much time?

Thanks, Juliet. I’m hugely partial to a frittata and this one sounds as good as that cake on the cover of Fast Forward looks, only healthier! Definitely trying this one at home. I just love sneaking zucchini into things.

Now, you heard Juliet, what’s your deadline dinner solution? Mine’s spaghetti alla  matriciana (amatriciana?). All store cupboard ingredients, and whipped up in no time. So what about you?

If you’d like to learn more about Juliet and her books, please visit her website. You can also connect via her blog, Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.