Night in the kitchen

Have you ever had those moments where you feel inspired to grab a recipe book and make something a little more interesting then the same old chicken and salad dinners? Yes? Well that was me tonight.

I must admit I do enjoy cooking. Particularly if it turns out deliciously tasty...... and I think I find it relaxing in an odd kind of way!

I had some apples that I wanted to turn into a dessert for the little man - and B and I had forgotten to take out any meat for dinner. So I grabbed a few cook books and after about 5 minutes of flicking through, decided upon a Beef Vindaloo from the CSIRO cookbook. I have made it before (burnt the bottom though) and decided it might be a better idea to stay close by this time :)

Concurrently I decided to whip up an apple and oatmeal dessert using a recipe I found on the wholesome baby food website. There is some really good stuff on there so if you are into making the food for your bub I recommend hitting it up!
So I sent B to the supermarket with the little man in tow and while they were gone I started on the apple dish.

 

Apple pieces and oats cooking slowly

With cinnamon added

Served up ready to go!

Then when B returned from the shops I started the 80 minute cooking process of the beef vindaloo. I took my laptop into the kitchen and cooked/facebooked/blogged all at once to pass the time. A tiny bit of 'me time'. Here are the results

simmering away

almost cooked and ready to serve

The finished product



B and I sat down to eat and he was suitably impressed. The taste was sort of sweetish with an added spiciness (if that is even a word).The two empty bowls proved the meal was a success. Cooking a meal from scratch did however make me realise that I'd like to try and do that more often, less processed and less preservatives - but also good for the soul...

Anyone else been on an adventure in the kitchen lately?

xx

Meet Me Monday

Here we are again - weekend done and dusted and the working week begins.
So I'm livening up my Monday by once again linking up with Java @ Never Growing Old for 'Meet Me Mondays' :)
So if you'd like to join in  - answer the five questions below and then link up your post to Java's.
Simple right?

Here we go!

This week's questions are;
1.  What feature of the opposite sex do you notice first?
2.  Do you talk to yourself?
3.  What is your current relationship status?
4.  Do you have a garden?
5.  What is your favorite licorice flavor?

My Answers
1.  What feature of the opposite sex do you notice first?
I guess normally I notice eyes/facial attributes. I love eyes. I think that you can tell a lot about someone from their eyes. B has strange colour changing eyes. Random fact there!

2.  Do you talk to yourself?
I do talk to myself at times - mostly it is when I am working and making mental lists etc. I like to talk it out first so I know what I need to do. They say you only have to worry about talking to yourself when you start to answer!

3.  What is your current relationship status?
I'm happily married to B :) We have been together for nine years this year!

4.  Do you have a garden?
Yes. But I cannot take a whole lot of credit for that. It was already landscaped when we moved/bought this place. I always have great intentions about having a vegie garden (I did successfully grow some tomatoes this summer) and love the idea of being self sustaining in that area but I am totally shit at gardening - excuse my language. Once I got B to buy me fencing and everything I needed for a vegie patch. He then dutifully built it all for me one weekend - then I put fertiliser too close to the seeds and nothing grew. FAIL. I do love the idea of using my own fresh ingredients from the garden for cooking so maybe I need to get busy and take a class or read up on the net!

5.  What is your favorite licorice flavor?
I absolutely hate black licorice, aniseed, those black jelly beans and licorice bullets or allsorts. Yeah pretty much any black licorice. I do however like raspberry/strawberry flavoured licorice twists, the ones you get from Darrell Lea. But licorice is definitely not my first choice for a lolly!

xx

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

In our house Valentines Day is celebrated on the 14th of March. This is because the 14th February is B's birthday :) He decided fairly early on in our relationship that we would separate the two days - this way we have two celebrations (I also think it is because Roses are cheaper in March!! - and B. is a frugal man).

So my day went something like this - went to the plaza and bought some prawns, oysters and several other ingredients to make B. for dinner. Then came home and in between all the other mummy tasks I completed, I sat our little man in his bumbo (if you don't know what that is click the link!) on the kitchen bench and prepared Oysters kilpatrick, marinated the prawns and whipped up some chocolate mousse for dessert - all whilst entertaining him :) I was quite proud of my efforts!

So when B got home we hung out together as a family - Little man gave his card to Daddy and we ate our entree of oysters while listen to the romantical echoes of Hi-5.....

Then bath/feed/bed for the little one - and we indulged in pasta la prawns and some champagne - Deliciously whipped up by me!

To top off our night we had the chocolate mousse pictured below - and yes I did make it in baby bowls! - While we watched last nights episode of The Biggest Loser on our IQ.

A fantastic night spent with my wonderful man. So here I am posting this and then signing off for Valentines Day :)

Hope you all had a wonderful day.

xx