Less of me...

When we returned home from holidays I decided I needed to 'pull my belt in' bit, eat more thoughtfully and lose some weight...

I bought a new set of digital scales and last Wednesday I hopped on in the morning (bras and knickers) and weighed in at

77.60 kgs 24/9/14

Today, I weigh 77.10 kgs 29/9/14 - hey, it's a loss! Juicing and trying to have more veggies in there than fruit. This morning I used 5 medium carrots, 2 small beets, 2 oranges, 1 apple and 2 sticks celery. That was for two of us.

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Lunch today - tuna, onion, celery, tomato, carrot, cheese - a big bowl full and it was so yummy!

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Yoghurt baffles me! If its good for you (low fat and sugar) its disgusting to eat - if it tastes nice, its full of sugar. If its to die for, it ain't low fat and is overloaded in sugar!

This is what we are currently eating. The portion sizes are smaller at 100gms compared to most at 160gms, it is sweetened with sugar, not aspartame and it has cultures for gut health.

Chobani is another one we eat, a Greek yoghurt with fruit.

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Dinner tonight (pardon the carbs!) is shaslicks, sweet corn, salad and a baked spud with light sour cream. I've been buying these shaslicks for quite a while and they have been yummy and tender but I was very disappointed in these ones. Huge big chunks of crap steak (sinewy and dry) that was so chewy and dry when pan fried. I actually disassembled them and cut the chunks smaller). The larger size drives the price up too. I may even go in and speak to the butcher - not to bawl him out, just to tell him he needs to review the meat he uses and portion size or no one will be buying them.

Would you complain or just not buy the product again?

 

Added: Well, I had great success when I spoke to the butcher, Jim (he packs the meat that our IGA Supermarket buys in as well as locally buying beef and lamb for our IGA). I just said how disappointed in the shaslicks I was as they are normally good and tasty. He said he doesn't make them, they come from an Adelaide company and he said he had had other products not being up to scratch lately too. I told him I didnt think he'd use inferior meat as he is a third generation local family butcher. He offered to refund my purchase but I said that wasn't necessary, then he gave me one pack for free any way. I'm sure he'll be onto the city supplier to make sure things are better in the future. Pleasing outcome! :)

Joolz xx

 

 

Posted by Joolz with Blogsy

Gardener's Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub...

I found this great recipe for this hand scrub here ...

http://www.popsugar.com/smart-living/DIY-Gardener-Hand-Scrub-35589015

I had some coconut oil in the pantry (from memory is cost about $15 for the 300gm jar)...

Combine the zest and oil in a bowl...

Then mix in the sugar and essential oils ...

(I used eucalyptus and didn't have peppermint oil on hand)

Then add the detergent. I had to add a bit more sugar...

It had a gooey consistency...

It made these 3 jars - I tried a tablespoonful on my hands and gave them a good rub then rinsed off. Brilliant stuff!

Give it a go!

PS: Can you tell I'm happy to be back home in my kitchen?? Joolz xx

PPS: I think I will use Blogsy again for posting. I just did this complete post including writing out the recipe and then it bloody disappeared on me (not the first time that's happened!)

Posted by Joolz with Blogsy

Indian Parathas and Spiced Prawns with coconut...

I had a go at making these parathas, similar to chapatis but with layers of ghee and flour in between.

125 gms each of plain flour and wholemeal plain flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 tblspn ghee, melted

120-150 mls water

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Extra 3-5 tblspn ghee, melted to brush over while cooking

Extra flour for sprinkling

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Add flour, salt, ghee and first 120 mls water to bowl and mix. Add more water if necessary to form a soft dough.  Knead for one or two minutes then cover and leave to rest 15 minutes.

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Heat a heavy based frying pan or griddle over medium heat.

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Divide dough into 8 portions (I weigh the dough then divide evenly) and roll into balls. On a floured surface, use a floured rolling pin and roll out the ball to 13 cm in diameter.  

Brush with melted ghee and sprinkle with a little flour, fold over to form a half moon shape, brush with ghee again then fold over to form a quarter or triangle shape.  Now gently roll out the triangle until all sides are about 13cm long.  Repeat with remaining dough.

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When the pan is hot, brush it with ghee then place the paratha in the pan.  Cook 1-2 minutes (may take a bit longer) or until bubbles appear on the surface and it puffs up.

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Brush the top with ghee then flip the bread over, press down with spatula so it cooks evenly.  Cook until second side is golden brown.  

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Brush again with ghee, flip over a final time then move to a warm plate.  Cover with a clean tea towel and cook the rest.

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Gus made this prawn dish.  I happened to have just the right quantity of panch phoran (I was given a sample to try by a gent at our WW club). It is made up of fenugreek, fennell, cumin, nigella and brown mustard seeds.

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It smelled yum while cooking...

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The coconut prawns were served with my mango chutney (really good) and good Greek yoghurt...

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Tear off some paratha, spread with yoghurt and chutney, top with a prawn and some sauce and...

Enjoy!

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Cheers - Joolz xx

 
 

 

Flinders Ranges trip - Day 12

22/9/14

Day 12

This morning we drove out to meet fellow blogger and friend, Outback Tania and her husband Phil.  I have been blogging since August 2008 and Tania first commented one my blog in November of that year.  Since then, I've been following her as she lives just out of a large outback town, in arid, desert conditions.  I take my hat off to her as I could not stand the heat that Pt Augusta delivers in the summer months. Over the years, she has had a garden to be envious of, producing a bounty of veggies in very trying conditions.  She is a good cook and recently has been going down the frugal path which we should all be adopting.  Less is more, cutting back and no spend days, that type of thing.

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http://outbacktania.blogspot.com.au

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Here we are on her front verandah.  Her house has a great wide verandah which helps keep their house lovely and cool.    We had a good natter over a lovely cuppa and a piece of her yummy date slice.  Her husband Phil and his mate, Sid, joined us and we had lots of laughs.  Her garden is not doing much at the moment but she said she's gearing up to get it going again.  She showed me her patch of lawn - crunchy and brown.  Thats living in the desert for ya! :)

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Here is the recipe for Tania's Date Squares - I hadn't seen this one before and its nice and easy and scrummy!

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(Photo by Tania)

Boil together 1 cup of chopped dates, 4oz butter and 1 cup of butter - for 5 minutes.  Then stir in 4 cups of rice bubbles and mix well.  A little nutmeg added imporves the flavour.  Press into a lined slice tin and place in fridge until cold.  Top with whipped cream.  Place sliced banana that has been soaked in lemon juice on top of cream and sprinkle with coconut.

Delicious!

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All too soon it was time to go.  Thank you, Tania and Phil for your hospitality and opening your lovely home to us.  If you are ever down this way, the door is always open!

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Then it was onto Wallaroo, via Pt Pirie.  We had a nice lunch in a cafe called SaFavi's.

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Tandoori kebabs...

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Personalised coffees! Me...
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and Gus! Lol!
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We finally got to Walleroo where we stayed at the Walleroo Marina...
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The last sunset of our trip away...

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It has been a great 2 weeks, so relaxing and wonderful to see a part of this great wide land that we haven't seen before.
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Day 13   23/9/14

We made our way back home via Adelaide, calling quickly to see Brianna who was home. Then it was onwards home!

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Cheers. Joolz xx

 

Flinders Ranges trip - Day 11

21/9/14

Day 11

First up - breakfast!

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Egg n bacon toasted sanga and a cup of coffee!

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After a long pack up, we left our lovely camp - neat and tidy - just the way we found it!   Then we made our way up Mt Arden for a look ...

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It was a very, very steep climb!  Ruby performed beautifully and slowly got us to the top.

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Slowly does it!

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We had a 360 degree view of the Southern end of the Flinders Ranges...

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Gus reckoned he earned a beer driving up!

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then it was time ... to go back down!   I admit I had a slight panic attack.  But once we got going, slowly, ever so slowly, we made our way down the rocky path...

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Winding our way ...

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Back down to flatter ground, phew!  I had sweaty palms and feet!

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Then it was time to head back to the Argadells homestead and say goodbye to Malcolm & Judy, the proprietors and to thank them for having us on their property.  They charge $20/night and we could also have a hot shower at the homestead camp quarters for $6.  Malcolm had bought us up a big box of firewood for $40 which was ample for our 2 nights.

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Then we made a bee line for Pt Augusta in the afternoon.  I needed a shower like you wouldn't believe!

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We stayed at the Majestic Oasis apartments and our room had chocolates galore! We received champers and choc dipped strawberries on arrival too!

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Our room had a washer and dryer too so I did a few loads of washing while Gus went off to spruce up Ruby - she was filthy with red dirt!

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Oh, the shower was magnificent!  Dinner was a Caffe Primo which was a short walk away.

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Tomorrow, I get to meet a fellow blogger - very excited!!  :)

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Cheers - Joolz xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flinders Ranges trip ... Day 10

Day 10  20/9/14

Today is our 28th Wedding Anniversary! 

We spent much of the day doing nothing!

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Gus decided lunch under this magnificent gum tree was in order...

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Snags and hamburgers ...

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With tomato sauce, in bread!

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Later in the arvo, I made an apple crumble for our evening dessert... 

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I used some breakfast cereal, flour, butter and sugar for the crumble top...

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Meanwhile, Gus put together a barbecue baste for our lamb chops...

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He cooked them over the coals of the fire on his Auspit rotisserie....

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Here you can see the drum with vegetables which tumbled around and around as the spit is driven by a small motor in that box to the right.  We lowered it as the fire died down...and cooked the chops...

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...but 2 hours later when we went to eat - still raw veggies!!

They just hadnt cooked at all!

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We wnded up having chops and Continental Tomato & Pasta and gravy...our first culinary failure while camping!

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But my apple crumble saved the night!

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Thank God for dessert!  He he!

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We spent another cosy night in Ruby, glad we had our hot water bottles with us!  We have been so lucky with the weather, no wind at night and quite mild.

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Cheers - Joolz xx