Hello... hello

Hah! Its been awhile since I last posted.  Between Facebook and other things this got neglected. It was only when I realised that I was using my Google account to comment on other blogs that I realised that this was horribly out of date.

So... what now??
I like Instagram... kind of addicted to it in a good way. P and I walk each afternoon and I try and take a couple of photos with my phone along the way. More often than not one of them will be edited then posted on Instagram and Flickr. I used to follow Fatmumslim's photo-of-the-day list but it got kind of boring so I stopped.

We're gotten into Geocaching... finding Tupperware in the bush with million dollar satellites. Go to geocaching.com for a more comprehensive explaination if you seek further information.

History is big in our house at the moment. P has been researching the old South Coast Rail Line (plus a couple of associated tramlines and other forms of transport). He's hoping to put it together as a webpage, but he could probably turn it into a Master's thesis if he set his mind to it.

Project Life... now this is the kind of scrapping I like. Pictures and words. No fru-fru for me, so much easier and I am enjoying the process. Use quite a few of Cathy Zielke's Designer Digital Templates.  Lashed out on Photoshop CS6 (the education version) - loving the challenge.

As many afternoons as possible we've been exploring our local area and increasing our distance and speed. I've been using the MapMyWalk app but its a little heavy in its data usage and power consumption so I'm thinking of switching back to the Nike+ app.

I've started scanning Mum's slide collection. Hoping to turn it into a photobook by the time for her 70th Birthday (shhhh - don't tell her).

Workwise... I work, P doesn't (at the moment - he's the house husband), so money is a little tight but we are loving the challenge of keeping things simple.

That's about it for the time being. No guarantees on when I'll next update, in the meantime heres a recent sunset pic.

Herbed Fish

Another recipe share... herbed fish. This is great for frozen fish, so buy one of those 1kg bags of fish and defrost as needed.

Ingredients
1 tbl olive oil
1 tbl lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 shallot (chopped)
1 tbl chopped dill as well as tbl of chopped thyme **

Mix ingredients together and smear over fish fillets.
Cook fish in frying pan until cooked.

Yum!!

** You know what its like when you chop fresh herbs. If you don't end up with a tablespoon it doesn't really matter. You could also substitute other herbs such as chives or coriander. Basically you're looking for something pungent.

Chicken and Asparagus Stirfry

Usual deal - this serves two. Double for more.

1 chicken breast - cut into stirfry chunks
1 onion sliced
1/2 red capsicum sliced
bunch of asparagus chopped into chunks
clove garlic crushed
teaspoon (or slightly more) fresh ginger grated
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon low salt soy sauce

Stirfry chicken and onion in a little oil.
Add vegies and garlic/ginger and continue to stirfry.
Add the lime and soy mixture, continue to stirfry until the volume of liquid is reduced and the asparagus is tender.

Serve on rice if you wish but it doesn't really need it if you are trying to cut carbs.

The original recipe called for fresh basil in place of the soy but I didn't have any. Adding some extra chilli or a swig of sweet chilli sauce to the sauce mix would be nice too. You could substitute green beans for the asparagus.

This recipe was really fast to cook and prepare (making it perfect for after gym) and was really delicious.

Balsamic Chicken (or steak) with mushrooms

Usual thing - enough chicken breast or lean steak to feed two people
1 tbl of balsamic vinegar
1 clove of garlic
a tiny splash of oil
1/2 a cup of mushrooms
1/2 cup of stock (chicken or vegie)
1 tbl of thyme leaves (fresh)
1 tbl of parsley (fresh)

Coat the chicken with the balsamic/garlic/oil mixture. Cook in a heated pan until just cooked. Set aside and keep warm.

In the same pan you used before. Cook the mushrooms in the stock until the stock is reduced to half. Add the herbs and mix in.

Return the meat to the pan, making sure it gets coated in the pan juices and mushroom mix.

Serve with some steamed vegies.

The recipe was originally for chicken but I tried it with beef tonight and it worked really well. I used some swiss brown mushrooms from the markets and it had a really rich flavour. When I used chicken I used some tiny little mushrooms and it was much lighter. So I suppose it really depends your mushroom preference.

Baked Lemon Chicken

Baked Lemon Chicken
1 chicken breast (1 large usually is enough protein for both of us)
ground pepper
sprig of rosemary (chopped)
1/2 lemon (juice and zest)
tiny splash of olive oil
small amount of stock (about 1/8 cup)

Rub the chicken with the pepper, rosemary, lemon juice and zest and olive oil. (you can add salt if you prefer but I don't think it needs it)
Sear the chicken breast in a pan so both sides are sealed and add the stock, bake in 180c oven for about 10mins until cooked.

I usually like this with ratatouille.

Helpful Hint
Freeze commercial or homemade stock in icecube trays (the silicon ones work best). When you need to cook onions/garlic/other vegies in oil, use a cube or two of stock. It still cooks the ingredients without sticking and eliminates another source of fat in the form of the oil you'd normally use and taste wise at the end you won't notice the difference. Just reduce your pan heat a little otherwise it will evaporate before you finish frying.

Syrupy Jaffa Cake

This really yummy cake recipe comes from Michelle Trute's Cooking with Conscience vol 2 cookbook. Serves 12

125g reduced fat margarine
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup water
2 Tbls cocoa powder
zest of 2 oranges
juice of 2 oranges
1/3 cup icing sugar

1. Cream margarine, add the next five ingredients. Beat for 5mins and fold through the zest of 1 orange.
2. Line a baking tin with paper, bake at 180c for 35-40mins
3. In a saucepan combine juice with remaining zest and icing sugar over a low heat until sugar dissolves.
4. When cake is cooked pierce the top with a skewer and slowly drizzle warm syrup over the cake.
5. Allow the cake to sit in the tin until cooled.

This has a really low sodium level (97mg per serve) but could be lower if you used plain flour and sodium free baking powder.

Back again

Yep... I blew up my old blog.

Typically I kept on composing posts in my head that I really wanted to put down into words, so I've resurrected it. I'm lucky I could still retrieve the old address.

Just don't expect regular updates like before.