Off to Adelaide...

On Friday afternoon, we headed to Adelaide.  It was Gus’s birthday and he had a delivery to do on Saturday so it was a perfect chance to see the girls and their fellas again.  Nothing makes us happier!

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Nate had this delicious lamb rack in the smoker for dinner...

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Kirby had to work both Saturday and Sunday but Bri and I caught up with her for Saturday lunch at Rain on Norwood Parade.   We shared the shallot pancakes...

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...and the steamed dumplings...oh, that sauce!!!

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I ordered green chicken curry - sooo good! I had the sweats afterwards! 

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We went out for dinner Saturday night.  I ordered this pizza but only had 1/4.  The rest went home in a box and Kirby took it to work on Sunday.

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I did have affogato for dessert...
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I had mixed up a batch of no-knead 5-minute artisan bread on Saturday arvo and let it prove until Sunday morning...the dough was quite gloopy but came together in a nice ball without kneading...

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I heated a cast iron dutch oven for 30 minutes in a 220C oven then dropped the dough in, on kitchen paper...

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After 30 minutes, I removed the lid and baked for a further 20 minutes at 200C.

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 A crunchy crusty loaf...

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Before we left to come home, I made dinner for the kids to have Sunday night.  Chicken penne pasta a la Joolz! 

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We were on the road by late morning.  It was very foggy up in the hills!

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I found this chip cutter in a Japanese shop called Daiko.  It was amazing, everything Japanese that you would find in a store in say, Tokyo.  I loved it.  Anyway, the cutter worked a treat on a couple of oblong white potatoes and produced perfect fries.

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I put them in a bag with 1 tbspn EVOO and a good shake of Nostimini spice mix...

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Yummy oven fries!

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We had bought some little lamb and pork mignons before we left Adelaide so that was dinner.  I must admit that the serving is quite large but peas, carrot and corn are 0 points. Gus did over do the lamb a bit but it was still tasty.

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Oh dear! I was very angry when Gus came to put together a kneeling chair that I bought at OfficeWorks.   There was one piece missing! 

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I will ring them shortly to see what can be done.  We are 400 kms away from the store! 

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Weigh in time this morning...please excuse my tootsies, they will be getting a pedicure tonight!

77.9 kgs so a gain of .100 gms from last Monday.  I’ll take that - it is hard staying on track when you’re away from home. Back into it today with a walk on the treadmill and some floor exercises that are in the WW magazine.  8.1 kg loss to date. 😝

Cheers - Joolz xx

A bit of spring cleaning in winter...

I had the spring cleaning bug this morning so I decided to tackle my 'second drawer down' or utensil drawer...everyone has one and most people loathe it!

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Some things got tossed, some others put away in another drawer then it all got put back in.  I can at least see where everything is now.

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This is my 'bottom drawer'...which is worst than the other one!  This is the junk drawer or where handy items that are rarely used are put...

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Again, lots of stuff got tossed then it all went back in again...oh, well, I can say it's been done!

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I gave my glass splash back (or is it a back splash? ... I'm open to debate!) a going over with Windex which really got rid of a lot of greasy marks and I took down that rack (which is for holding recipe books) and gave that a good soapy wash.  It was very greasy too!  All sparkly again now!

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I shopped Woolworths yesterday for non perishables to add to my stockpile...this lot cost $90.30 but I saved $45.00.  The OMO is $20 for 4 litres ($5/litre), the Finish dishtabs were $10 for 40 tabs so .25c each. Pears liquid hand wash $1.75 each, Palmolive foaming hand wash $2.45 ea, the toothbrushes were $4 for a twin pack.  Sometimes those brushes in a single pack are over $7 each!  I think I have about 10 bottles of the EcoStore dish detergent - it's my favourite and I only buy it when it's $3 a bottle. Gus eats the peaches which were $6.50 a box of 8 x 120gms so .81c each compared to a 4 pack x 120gm which was $4.00 or $1 each.

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My points are nearly at 2000 so I'll get $10 a future shop soon...

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Do you wash your spinach and salad leaves?  This was loose spinach that I bought.  I always give it a whiz in my salad spinner...

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...then I pick all the long stems off and discard any limp leaves...

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I'm glad I did, look at this slimy leaf! Yuck!

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I made a delicious WW Crustless sweet corn, spinach and bacon quiche for dinner last night.  I added a bit of broccolini and some mushrooms I had in the fridge, to the other ingredients.

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I baked for around 30 minutes then it was done...

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We had it with lamb cutlets (feed the man meat!) and a quick salad of lettuce, tomato and cranberries.

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Delish!

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My naughty sister made apple turnovers and gave me two.  I think she's trying to sabotage my diet!  Gus and I shared one last night and will have the other one tonight!

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Cheers - Joolz xx

A beautiful sunrise...

Tuesday 19/6/18   7.00am

7.01am

7.04am

7.04am

7.05am

7.08am

7.08am

8.11am today - no pretty sunrise this morning!  It’s just after 9am now and it’s only 6C out there! Brrrr!

Stay warm,

Cheers - Joolz xx

Photo dump catch up...

My Vegepod is on it’s last legs.  The strawberry plants in the front have failed to produce anything and that one tomato plant is hanging on, it still has green cherry toms on the vine but our temps are just too cold to ripen them now...

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Time to rip it all out and maybe plant some broccoli ....

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Winter has come to us with a vengeance - lots of rain last week and this week, just plain cold, still days.  Porridge is keeping me warm...

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I’ve been making biscuits to sell at our community Hub, but I find it very time consuming for the return...

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Last Friday night’s dinner - simple bolognese...

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More baking on Saturday morning for the Hub...

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All packed up ready to deliver!

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I was given some apples and rhubarb so I stewed them up to pop into the freezer for a cheeky crumble or two!

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Good grief!  I took this pic on Saturday at 2pm! Only 7C!

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I thought a Mulberry gin and ginger beer might warm the cockles...and it did! 

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I made spelt bread rolls to pop into the freezer...

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Gus made this WW meal which turned out lovely.

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Sunday morning I made those 2-ingredient bagels, doubling the recipe to make 4.

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Very nice with scrambled eggs!

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Mmmm, apple and mulberry crumble! 

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Made even better with a scoop of vanilla icecream!

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My Monday weigh in this week 18/06/18 - 77.8kg (which is the same as Tuesday last week.  No loss or gain but I’m okay with that (8.2 kg lost so far).  Winter is a time for eating foods to sustain you and I must admit, eating a nice salad plate when it’s 7C outside, really isn’t that appealing! I’ll keep plugging away, being mindful of what goes in my mouth.

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Cheers - Joolz xx