The menu so far...

Monday - homemade lasagne (this pic from May this year)...

~

Tuesday - pork chops with plum sauce, kumara mash, steamed potatoes, fresh green beans and corn on the cob...

~

I'm thinking this might do for dinner tonight...

~

The weather is warming up - quite ridiculously.  It was 15C on Monday and it is going to be at least 30C on Saturday! I hate it when we get extreme weather changes, that is way too much of a jump!

~

I need to find some shorts to wear this weekend as we are off to the beach. Kirby is coming home for the long weekend with her fella, Nate. As always we've got some lovely food planned and will make a trip to the Coonawarra too.
 ~

Still coughing but it is drying up, maybe due to the Olive Leaf Extract capsules.  I've never been any good at taking medication religiously but now that I have to take BP meds, I have an alarm set on my phone for 8am so I never forget!

~

Time to get into it, see you later,

Joolz xx

 

 

Quck, easy, healthy dinner...

We couldn't decide what we wanted for dinner last night so I rummaged through lots of recipe books...everything was too fussy and took time to make.  Then I found this recipe which we'd obviously made once before, judging by the post-it note...

~

~

I had coriander, the chilli, mango, cucumber, onion and three cherry tomatoes in the fridge. I zipped to the supermarket for mince, iceberg lettuce and a bottle of satay sauce.

~

Half an hour later, we were sitting down to this!

~

A simple, healthy meal.  I had three lettuce cups.

Cheers - Joolz xx
 

 
 

 

60th cake...

My sister was throwing a surprise 60th for my brother-in-law, at their beach shack.  I offered to make the cake as it would be hard for her to do that.  She had lots of trouble keeping it a secret!

~

I used this recipe which I found at Destitute Gourmet - it makes a lovely moist cake or a big batch of cupcakes...

http://www.food.com/recipe/danas-chocolate-cake-443594

~

~

The cake cracked on top and rose way above the tin...

~

~

...so I trimmed off the top with my electric knife...
~

Snow is a Collingwood fan so I decorated in black and white...

~

I printed off the 60 signs and laminated them to make them food safe...

~

The batch of cupcakes turned out well too!

~

I piped icing on then sprinkled on the decorations, easy peasy!

~

~

Next, the cake was slathered in frosting and sprinkles...

~

~ 

~ 

~

It turned out really well!

~

The surprise party went off without a hitch and Snow was pretty surprised but he had an inkling something was up.  We enjoyed shared salads and barbecued meats.

~

Cheers - Joolz xx
 
 
 

 

Stocking up...

I stocked up on Gus's shaving cream (Nivea at half price) and deodorant (same) and tinned tomatoes for $1/ can and saved $47.33

~

Because I am not grabbing those toiletry items each week at full price, my overall spend is much less.  Gus has enough shaving cream to last until 2020 I reckon! 

- Joolz xx

 

 

Another yummy and quick dinner - pork cutlets (mine were steaks) and cranberry wine sauce...

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/3912/pork+cutlets+with+cranberry+wine+sauce+low+fat

Pan fry the pork in a little olive oil then transfer to baking rack and finish in oven. Meanwhile add cranberry, white wine , garlic and the herbs (I used dried) and reduce slightly. Return pork to the pan and coat with the sauce.  Serve with veggies.  I can imagine it would be even nicer with the fresh herbs if you have them.

~

Its a sunny day here and 20C which is nice and a change from 13C earlier in the week!

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

 

Lemon Thyme chicken...

I made this dish on Tuesday...

It's a recipe from Marie at The English Kitchen...

http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/chicken-with-lemon-and-thyme.html

It was quite tangy so I did add a big tablespoon of honey and that made it delicious! I also put my browned chicken pieces in a casserole then added the sauce mix and baked it to finish cooking.

Another winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Cheers - Joolz xx

A good egg...

I love a good egg for breakfast - unfortunately most store bought googs just don't have a good taste - even the so- called free range ones.  I don't know anyone who has eggs for sale from their chooks at the moment so I was excited to see these eggs for sale - produced only 15kms away - by footloose and fancy free hens, no less!

~

Oh, yum! This is how I like my eggs poached - perfectly hard white and medium runny yolk.  The flavour was tasty, unlike those store bought cackleberries!

The price, I realise is over the top, so I might have to buy these as 'special occasion' bum nuts! But at .58 cents each, I think they are worth it!

~

I made a batch of salad dressing - I love this on iceberg lettuce and it makes great curried eggs too!

~

Yesterday, my cat Bonnie, left this for me.  I nearly stepped on it as I went out to the garage! Naughty! 

~

We entertained some business associates last night - we ordered Indian takeaway (and they paid)!  I made my own naan bread, raita and a delicious cucumber, tomato, red onion and chilli salad with a lime, sugar, red wine vinegar dressing.  I tipped each dish into bowls which looked much nicer than takeaway containers...

~

I'm still coughing but I do feel a bit better, not so run down. My better half has it too and is still congested and miserable. 

~

Cheers - Joolz xx

Portland, Victoria...

We took off for a three day weekend - we wanted to escape work and try and shake off our colds/allergies if possible!

~

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portland,_Victoria

~

We are going to Portland, a seaside town in Victoria. I said it was small but the population is over 9,000...
 

Being a windy area, they have harnessed that energy with wind turbines...

 

The coast is very rugged with volcanic lava floes from thousands of years ago...

~

This was the Blow Hole ...

~

We had lunch at the little hamlet of Cape Bridgewater to verlooking Bridgewater Bay...

~

This is a Bridgey Burger! We ordered this and a serve of simple fish and chips. My burger came out then it took a further 30 minutes (!!!!!)  before the fish came out.  I was furious! 

~

We then went on to Portland and our accomodation for the next 2 nights - Victoria House - a restored original 1853 bluestone guesthouse.  

~ 

If you like 'ye olde worlde' lodgings, this place is for you. It is full of old memorabilia and antiques sourced from local antique shops and auctions.  Unfortunately, there was also a fair bit of dust!

~

Our room was at the top of the narrow winding staircase (yay! I hate stairs!).  A small room but comfortable...

~ 

~

Downstairs again, there was a bright, sunny breakfast room...

~

A view out of the sitting room window to the lush garden...

~

The sun room, perfect for enjoying a good book...

~

The sitting room. We lit the fire each night...

~

There is complimentary port, sherry and fruit cake...

~ 

We decided on Lemongrass Thai for our first night dinner - mixed entree...

~

Thai massaman red curry beef...

~

Sticky black rice and icecream for dessert...

~

Back to the sitting room for a nightcap by the fire...

~

Sunday morning, we took a walk around town, window shopping and generally enjoying the sun on our backs!

~

We had a coffee and shared a slice of orange, almond cake (so good!)...

~

We caught up with friends who took us out to the Cape Nelson lighthouse for lunch at Isabella's Cafe...

~

I enjoyed my fish and chips!

 ~

Back at Victoria House, I took a wander through the back garden...

 ~

~

~

~

~

We strolled down to Seaview Indian restaurant for dinner on Sunday night ...

~

Kadhai chicken, garlic naan, Kashmiri Pulao rice and raita...

~

On Monday, we checked out then headed for the shops.  We are on the hunt for a new leather lounge suite - ours will turn 25 years old in November!  We found one but it was in black and we want brown so we took the details of it.  Then we made our way back to Mount Gambier. 

My brother-in-law owns a furniture business so we went there and lucky us - he can get the exact same lounge for us (and at a much nicer price - thank you!).  In his store, he also had great priced queen bed ensembles which we want to put in both our girls rooms, replacing their teenage beds.  This way, the rooms are great for any visitors we have and the girls both have nice beds when they come home too! I will get them to help me with doona cover choices etc.  We also need bedside tables and a dresser for each room.  We'll get there eventually!

~

We came home refreshed but still coughing and sniffing...buggerit!

Cheers - Joolz xx