Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Diet, not going so well!

We are home after a four day weekend in Adelaide. I won't say I ate unhealthy food, just not plain, whole food and not enough fruit and vegetables...

Dinner Friday night - delicious Chinese cuisine at Concubine...

Saturday lunch at Robin Hood Hotel - This was an amazing chicken & prawn salad, beautiful flavours of curry, coconut milk, lime and coriander and the poached chicken was divine! I cleaned the plate - so good!

Saturday night we dined at Hazara (Singapore/Indian cuisine) and it did not disappoint. Hazara chicken, prawns...

Sunday lunch ... (Gus had grilled barramundi with Goolwa cockles)

....we were out to lunch with a group of friends and people to remember our mate, Gary who passed away 3 years ago... Lamb & pear sausages, minted pea gravy and mash. I will say I hate half of this (so good) but the serving was way too big.

Sunday night, Gus and I had a small pizza delivered to our room. We didn't need much after that lunch!

Monday I hung out with Brianna and we had Takeaway Thai for lunch - I had green chicken curry and she had tamarind duck...

She headed off to work so I was left to chill at their unit until Gus picked me up later in the day. I got bored so I made the girls some scones...

I always find it weird using someone elses oven but they worked out fine.

Phew! Dinner Monday night was with Gus and Kirby. We went to La Trattoria. Gus and I had the grilled whiting - absolutely delicious but such a huge serving! Under the fish was a sort of ratatouille with potatoes in it. Kirby had a mushroom risotto.

As you can see, it was food, food, food!

It's weigh-in Wednesday at Weight Watchers but I am not holding my breath for a good result. I'll report back with my weight later.

 

WW weight 22/10 77.30kgs

 

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Turtling...

I forgot to record my weight for Wednesday 15/10/14 - at Weight Watchers it was 77.10 kgs - same as last week. I am what we call a 'turtle'! Slow and steady ...

My home scales said this ... 75.80kgs (first thing in the morning, in bras and knickers). I have work to do!

And my job is not made easy when you are invited out to the best Wagyu steak restaurant in South Australia - and its in our backyard!

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Nose to the grindstone!

 

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Think Pink ...

...for Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

Well, that was an epic morning of biscuit decorating!

I also made a batch of pink Melting Moments...

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Do you think they look like boobies? ;)

Then there was a lot of pink icing thrown around the kitchen!

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Then the packaging...

Tying all those fiddly bows with long fingernails is tricky!

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I am sure Bianca's Pink Day will be a success! I need to put my feet up now and have a cuppa!

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

Butter cookies for a cause...

My niece, Bianca, owns a hairdressing salon in our town and on Thursday she is holding a 'Pink' day for Breast Cancer Awareness month...

She asked me if I'd like to make some cookies to sell and giveaway to clients throughout the day. Of course, I said yes!

I had to bake them last night as we have a staff function on tonight and are going out for dinner...

They turned out perfectly, now I just need to ice and decorate them this morning and get them delivered this arvo when I go have my hair trimmed!

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I printed off a whole heap of pink ribbon tags and labels on photo paper ...

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I screen shot a lot of things on my ipad then the page can easily be found in my photos.
Here is the link to KatrinasKitchen - there are recipes galore!

http://www.inkatrinaskitchen.com/2011/12/best-sugar-cookie-recipe-and-kitchenaid_28.html

i'll be back later with the finished cookies!

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

 

 

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Melting Moments ...

I first posted this recipe back in July 2009 ...

Here is the link to the recipe. Back then I used to roll them into balls and flatten them with a fork but now I pipe them for better effect.

http://simplyjoolz.blogspot.com.au/2009/07/melting-moments.html

Also, a tip - really beat the butter and icing sugar well - until it is whipped pale and thick. This will give you light, crunchy, buttery biscuits...

Cheers - Joolz xx

 

Savoury casserole chops ...


I found this recipe on Facebook recently. It is a slow cooker recipe but I did it in my Le Creuset dutch oven in 1 and a 1/2 hours. I dusted the chops (I had 8) with plain flour and browned them in the pot on the stove top, then poured the sauce over the chops, bringing it up to a boil then put the lid on and placed in the oven at 180C. I stirred it and flipped the chops over a couple of times and seasoned with salt and pepper too. Another thing I added, and you might find it strange, a handful of raisins or sultanas and .... a banana!  Once tender, we had them with mashed potato, carrots and peas. Delicious!
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Nice comfort food after the chilly day we had - it got down to 10C at lunch time which is crazy seeing it is meant to be 32C on Sunday. No wonder everyone has the sniffles and flu.
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This afternoon I will be busy making iced, pink sugar cookies (similar to those above) for a Breast Cancer Awareness fundraiser that my niece is having at her hairdressing salon. There is also a Girls Night In function being held in town but unfortunately I can't make that. Originally, a group of girls got together (about 15 I think) and had a night in someone's loungeroom, playing games and wearing pink and being silly - a few years later and it's grown into a function where about 150 ladies have a rollicking night out, raising $000's for the cause.
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Isn't this rose stunning?  Its from my sister's garden...
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Off to work now then the cookie factory will be in full swing this arvo!
Cheers - Joolz xx


Monday, October 13, 2014

Lunch for the sisters...

I put on a birthday lunch today for my two sisters, Marilyn and Janine, whose birthdays were yesterday and tomorrow . We met in the middle.

I made Melting Moments to have with coffee afterwards...

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I made possibly the best lasagne I've ever made! So yummy with a tossed salad. It was a fun afternoon...we had bubbles too!

As with my other two sisters, I made up a tray of my goodies - Rocky Road in a Jar, apricot jam, steak spice rub, gardeners sugar hand scrub, choc pistachio fudge, barbecue sauce and cucumber pickles, some nice tea and a small notepad...

Cheers - Joolz xx