Tweaking my health...

I've been trying to drink more tea than coffee lately. Not that I am a heavy coffee drinker - maybe 1-2 cups a day, sometimes none!

This is a new Earl Grey type that I tried and its very nice.

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Monday, I had a pamper session. gus had given me a voucher for my birthday in 2013 for a half hour upper body massage and a 1.5 hour deluxe pedicure. I was in heaven! The massage was great but the pedi topped it off!

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Perfectly pimped toes, all dead skin sloughed away (it helped that I'd had that other pedi just before my birthday this year - the girl thought my feet were too good to be true!

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I have had a stiffness in my neck for over a month now so I finally got in to see a Naturapath and had some Bowen Therapy. It will take a few appointments before I get that neck fixed, but it has freed up a bit already.

I had a really good, comfortable nights sleep last night, waking at 5.30 thinking it must be time to get up!

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The therapist also suggested I take Magnesium for cardivascular health and it can also lower blood pressure and maintain hydration of muscles and joints. I have to drink the powder dissolved in a glass of water, morning and night.

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Dinner last night - my own recipe for curried baked rice - 1 cup Basmati rice, 2 cups of hot water, 1 teaspoon of curry powder and chicken stock powder, fresh corn cut off the cob, diced capsicum, grated carrot and zucchini and I had some spring onions wilting so they got tossed in too! Stir to combine, cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Check how its going, dob about 2 teaspoons of butter on it and give it a stir. Recover and bake a further 15-20 minutes until all is tender.

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I made beef shasliks from a piece of rump steak and fried off in a large skillet. I served it with a quick from scratch satay sauce - yum, yummo! Recipe here:

http://simplyjoolz.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/so-much-cooler-this-week.html

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I've been slack with our morning juicing so I made a nice one this morning... This pic is from another morning but its usually the same - orange, apple, carrot, celery and today I added a small fresh beetroot too. Power juice!

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Rather than go for a walk early this morning, I set off after breakfast at 8.30am ... just a quick walk of 25 minutes. My poor knees and feet need to get used to pounding the roads again!

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Past our swimming lake which is currently empty for winter...

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Once home, I had a cup of organic tea which has licorice root, peppermint leaf and sweet fennell and basil in it ...

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I should be jumping out of my skin! Now its time for work so hi ho, hi ho ...

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Cheers - Joolz xx

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The coldest week...

 

Temperatures plummeted in South Australia this week. We had lows during a few of the days like 7C. We've had wind and rain and hail like I've never seen before! All this calls for comfort food so a lasagne was made.

I just used a bottle of pasta sauce (Paul Newman's was on special, made a bechamel sauce and I use fresh pasta sheets. A very quick salad completes it.

Another cold night, my meal choice was Apricot Chicken. Are you a fan? Some people (like both my girls) hate it, but I love it. Its probably my favourite casserole to make.

I portioned a $7.50 free-range chicken so I had 2 legs, 2 wings, 2 thigh portions and the 2 breasts. I also threw in the neck piece. I love sucking on all the bones!

In a casserole dish, tip 1 can of apricot nectar, 1 packet of french onion soup, 1 carrot, sliced and a good big handful of dried apricots. Add 1/2 cup of water and stir all this to combine. Now, nestle in all the bits of chicken. Put the lid on and bake the first hour at 180C (stirring after 30 minutes) then drop the temp back to 160-170c for 2nd hour. It might be cooked after 1 and a half hours but it really falls off the bone at 2 hours. I serve it with green beans and fluffy mashed potatoes.

We had two meals from this .

We are about to choose some new furniture. We want to replace this pine box (full of kids board games) with a low line bookcase/dresser. I was looking on our local Buy, Swap and Sell site on Facebook and someone happened to ask if anyone had a big toybox for sale. I took a picture and listed it and sold it for $50! I paid about $100 for it 15 years ago! Anyway, its gone!

This is our TV corner unit. We want a low line one to replace it so we can put a bigger TV on it. Its a nice piece but because it restricts the TV size you can have, it probably wont sell. I want $150 for it.

Ooh, totally steering away from warming foods, I made this Crnchy Asian Slaw from Not Quite Nigella.

http://www.notquitenigella.com/2014/07/26/asian-coleslaw/

Gus cooked a piece of rump steak in the pan (too cold to stand out barbecueing!).

Tender steak served with this tangy slaw and dressing. Give it a go when the warmer weather hits. It deserves to be eaten outside on a sunny Sunday with a nice glass of wine!

On Saturday, I went out to lunch with 3 good friends for my birthday (it was the first time we could all get together). We went to the same cafe that I went to with my sisters. They have these amazing chicken, mushroom and champagne pies, served with a nice salad and homemade chutney. Lunch done for $15! We had a wine each too.

They know me too well - I absolutely love the blue and white plate stand and jug. I've promised them I will do a high tea party for them soon!

Saturday also marked 12 months since we went to the US! Twelve months!

New York...

San Francisco ...

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Central Park...

Monterey, CA

Driving Route 66...s much fun!

And finally, we got tickets to see Grease in Adelaide in a few weeks time. That will be the next time I see my girls, can't wait.

Off to work now then this afternoon I am off for a massage and pedicure!

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

 

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Lamb Dopiaza (the hot version)...

I tried Rick Stein's lamb dopiaza on Sunday. Rather than frying and toasting off the spices to release their flavour, in this dish they just all go in the pan and 2 hours later you have a lovely curry with thickish gravy.

His recipe called for coriander and cumin seeds but it didn't stipulate if they needed to be ground or not. I chose to grind then roughly then added them to the ither spices. I cut back the 10 Kashmiri dried chillies to six but wow, it still had some kick! You know how you take a mouthful, it burns, you swallow it down, appreciate the flavour then immediately take another mouthful? Thats what it was like. Wowsers!

I love making accompaniments for my curries, they just make it interesting. This is Apple Chutney - 2 royal gala apples and 1 small onion, grated; One green chilli, diced; a handful of chopped parsley; 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar and 1/4 tspn salt. Combine all ingredients.

I diced the lamb, sprinkled over the spices, threw in the cinnamon sticks and chillies...

Next, I dolloped in the yoghurt and stirred to combine. Re-reading the recipe, I've just realised I missed adding in 60gms of ghee. Hmmm, it just got healthier as I used low fat yoghurt too!

I made naan bread and although this had 40gms of ghee in it, I didn't brush the other 40gms of ghee over them, as requsted, when cooked.

Beautiful, tender lamb chunks...

My standard extra is the cucumber raita which aids in cooling the dish down - greek yoghurt, cucumber, chopped fresh mint, cumin, lemon juice and sugar.

Since buying Rick's book, I have really enjoyed experimenting with his curries. There are so many more yet to cook - Lamb Korma, Rogan Josh, Beef vindaloo, Butter Chicken, Madras Club Sheperds Pie....

I haven't had a cold this winter, maybe the curries are keeping the lurgies at bay?

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

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Irish Soda Bread and Lamb & Pea Pasta

I was given a lovely book for my birthday called Three Sisters Bake. Three Scottish sisters to be exact.

Gus is cooking a lamb and pea pasta dish for dinner so I thought I'd make a loaf...

It was a nice sloppy dough ...

It baked beautifully. The recipe said it should go nice and dark, very crusty on the outside.

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Gus found this recipe in a magazine so he gave it a whirl. He used an Oricchiette pasta instead of the large shells.

This pasta is so good! It's Don Antonio brand (made in Italy) and I swear someone's Nonna hand rolled it!

This is the spaghetti. Its now our favouite.

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A simple dish but really delicious! The pasta was perfectly tender...

It wasn't until he was tidying the kitchen that he realised that he'd left out the chicken stock. It didnt seem to matter!

Give it a go!

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

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More Blue Ribbon cooking...

 

I treated myself to this book, choc full of simple home recipes cooked for our country shows (fairs for those in the US). There are a few cake, biscuit and slice recipes in here and also a fig jam recipe I'd like to try.

This is the first book by author Liz Harful. It features a recipe by a lady in our town, for yeast buns. I might try that one day.

Liz is currently touring around the country, visiting the local shows and promoting her book.

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

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100%Cotton...

 

These are my yummy balls of cotton from Bendigo Woollen Mills. Lovely and soft and it knits up beautifully. Plenty of dishcloths in that lot! The green one is light teal. I ordered these online and although 2 were on back order, the other ball arrived in about 4 days so they are quick. Worth a look, all you knitters and crocheters!

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

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SJ Food files...

I made this Clafoutis on Sunday night. The recipe is from Manu Feidel. I had strawberries on hand instead of cherries and I swapped Kirsch for Cointreau. This is best eaten when it comes out of the oven (cool slightly) as it drops a bit when cooled totally. Still yummy!

http://manufeildel.com.au/2012/03/cherry-clafoutis/

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I've only made these once before but I think they'll become favourires...

Sweet potato & garlic rolls

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/breads/sweet-potato-garlic-knots/

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and fresh out of the oven this morning, this simple banana bread...

http://www.honeyandjam.com/2009/02/banana-bread.html

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Dinner is sorted for tonight - a piece of rump steak, pan fried with hot and spicy mushroom sauce. What are you having?

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

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