Bike adventure, the first of many : )

Last week Eli & I got bikes! I've been wanting a bike for well over a year, & now that we're living in Diamond Creek (Diamond Creek = endless bike tracks) it seemed like a good time to get a pair [: )
We each got a Kona Dew FS, & we're both insanely happy with them 'XD We've had them less than a week, but we must have ridden close to 40km already. I think the best thing about riding bikes (aside from the exercise) is discovering new places, we've already stumbled on a number of beautiful parks that we never knew existed, many of which are inaccessible by car [:D
We adore our new bikes & we're looking forward to our next bike adventure, till then here are a couple of photos from our ride last Saturday. I took these on my phone, I'll have to remember the camera next time '>_>

Amazing baked marinated mushrooms *o*-OMG yum!

This is another one of my most favorite recipes, it's very easy & really tasty.

It's become a favorite, the original was from a book called 'Growing gourmet & medicinal mushrooms' by 'Paul Stamets'.
We changed it up a bit, so I hope you'll like it.

*Japanese style baked Mushrooms Recipe*

Ingredients:

- 2 Large Mushrooms, not fully opened (I use Swiss brown mushrooms, but any will do)

(Marinade)

- 1 tbs of Olive oil

- 2 tbs of Sesame oil

- 1 tbs of GF Soy sauce, or Tamari

- 2-3 tbs of White wine - (Mirin or Sake is fine)

- 1 tsp of Agave syrup or Golden syrup.

- 1-2 cloves of Garlic - minced

- A pinch of Black pepper

Serve with fresh rice or mashed potatoes if you're grain-free.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F) & line a baking tray with foil.

2. Remove the stalks from the mushrooms, dice them finely & set aside. You may need to slice a bit off the top of the mushrooms so they will sit flat on the baking tray & won't tip over, however it's not always necessary, if you do, dice the offcuts finely & add them along with the stalks into the hollow area of the upturned mushrooms & sit them on the baking tray.

3. Mince the garlic & combine in a small bowl with all the other marinade ingredients & mix until honey has dissolved, then spoon the marinade equally into the hollows of the upturned mushrooms.

4. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the mushrooms have shrunk & softened.

Serve it however you like!

This is what the mushrooms look like before they're baked, filled with the diced off-cuts, stalks & marinade. You can see because they're not fully opened they have walls that hold the marinade. Once they're baked the mushrooms are sweet, salty & juicy. They have a fairly strong flavour & are best accompanied by something simple like steamed rice, lightly flavored noodles, etc.

Give it a go some time~

Me an my bean

...Bean being my cavoodle Addi, or as we often call her, Jiji-bean :3

Just messing around taking some random photos today, some from my phone & some from our camera, all adjusted in Photoshop : )

I love my dogs so very very much

One thing I intend to try once we get our Vitamix : )

...is Korean Pine nut Porridge~

It looks fairly easy to make & I'm so keen to taste it! : ]

Here's a video -

As mentioned in the video I think it would be a good thing to eat when you're not well, I don't wanna get sick or anything, but I'd like to test that out one day 'X )

I've become interested in Korean food recently, so I might have some recipes to share... eventually :p

Fried rice nori wrap DELICIOUS! XO

In my usual style (slow & haphazard) I have formulated another recipe which fits my 'nori adventure' theme , & here's how it came about -

This morning I was trying to think of something a bit different to do with some leftover rice, then I remembered it was probably about time to get some nori into my system. I decided fried rice with vegetables conveniently rolled up in nori might be good.
So I made up a simple fried rice, spread it on a sheet of nori & clumsily rolled the thing up. It was at that moment that I realised one of the best traits of nori, once it's gotten a bit damp it's quite strong, this in turn made me realise that nori would make a great wrapper for all kinds of delicious fillings -BOOM- Once your food is all wrapped up it's super easy to pack into a lunchbox.
My plan now is to come up with some interesting quick, easy & convenient 'nori pouch' type recipes.

This is the one I made today, it was an experiment, so it's turned out a little messy, but I still consider it a delicious success -


Fried rice nori roll recipe


Ingredients:
- 1/2 - 1 cup of Left over cooked rice
- 1/2 - 1 cup of Vegetables of your choice, I used:
   *1/4 of a small Brown onion
   *Small piece of Red capsicum
   *1 Medium Swiss brown mushroom
   *1/4 cup Peas & Corn mix
   *Small piece of Broccoli
   *1 Medium leaf of Silverbeet
   *A handful of roasted Cashews
- 1 sheet of Nori
- 2 tbs of GF Soy sauce ot Tamari (Highly recommend Spiral products)
- 2 tbs of Mirin (Spiral) - Be careful some mirin is not Gluten-free!
- Pinch of Salt
- Pinch of Pepper
- Oil for cooking


Method:
1. Prep all the veggies. Remove the stem from the silver beet, slice into short strips & set it aside. Coarsely chop the roasted cashew nuts & set aside. Finely dice the onion, capsicum & mushroom. Cut the broccoli into thin bite-size pieces. Set the peas & corn to the side.
2. On a medium setting, heat a small amount of oil in a skillet & add the onion, capsicum, mushroom, broccoli & a pinch of salt & pepper. Saute for a minute before adding 1 tbs of soy sauce & 1 tbs of mirin & continue sauteing for a few minutes until vegetables have softened slightly.
3. Add the peas & corn, & the silver beet to the skillet & saute for a minute until silver beet is slightly wilted, lower the heat & add the rice, 1 tbs of soy sauce & 1 tbs of mirin. Mix thoroughly until heated through.
4. Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl & pour all over the vegetable rice mix & cover. After a few minutes use a spatula to flip the eggy fried rice, & cover again.
5. After another few minutes turn off the heat, remove the cover & break up the eggy fried rice.
6. Place a sheet of nori smooth side down onto a plate & evenly cover with the eggy fried rice mix, leaving some space on one end so it will seal closed. Sprinkle on the chopped cashews, roll it up & you're done! \ [^o^] /


Serve with some sliced tomato, or some OJ for Vitamin C to help aid iron absorption.

As you can see I didn't spread the filling out very well...

Try to spread it right to the top & bottom, but leave a couple of

centimeters bare on one side to seal it closed.

This is what it looks like all rolled up.

It was really, really tasty, probably better than most of

the ones you'd buy from a take-out place, & there was

no overpowering nori taste.

I will definitely be making this again, & of course you can make up whatever mix you like for the filling, this is just to give you an idea.

Nori time!

Quit smoking, the benefits...

I guess this post is a little out of the ordinary for me (even more so because I have never been a smoker) but I know many people who do smoke, & it frustrates me so much to see them throwing away money on a horrible product like cigarettes >: ( Not to mention sacrificing their health for no reason at all!
My mother has smoked most of her life, & has not yet managed to quit for good, she is still young, but I can see her health decaying : (
So I'm posting this for anyone out there who wants to improve their quality of life & become more healthy by quitting smoking. Saying it's not easy is a huge understatement, I have witnessed many people struggle to quit many times, but it can be done!
I saw these posters a little while ago & I thought they were a good idea, so I tracked them down online, & here they are...


Female-

Male-

More info (& full size PDF versions of these posters) can be found
here - www.health.gov.au
Good luck!!!

Vitamix dreams...

I've decided I'd really love a Vitamix blender, but considering the most basic package starts at around $895, & I'd like the next one up, which is a hefty $1,095 it's understandable that Eli is having a hard time coming to terms with the price :p

I think he's kinda maybe gonna decide it's ok, but only time will tell. He hates spending large amounts of money, but I can only see the shiny thing that the money buys *u*

What's life without awesome (& practical) stuff like a Vitamix anyway...

Check it ouuuuut...

If you've never heard of a Vitamix before it's pretty much one of the best blenders available on the market. There is another brilliant brand called Blendtec, these have become well known because of 'Will it blend', a show that tests whether an item can be reduced to dust in a blender, & they use a Blendtec. I also really like these, but they don't seem to be available in Australia at all : ( If I had the option to choose between them, for various reasons I think I would still choose the Vitamix anyway.
Here they are side by side...

These pics are not to scale by the way, the Vitamix is a fair bit taller than the Blendtec, but performance wise they seem to be pretty much on par with one another : )


& Finally here's a video of a lady demonstrating how to make fresh ice cream in a Vitamix...

You can do everything with these things, you can make hot soup in them, make fresh rice or nut milk, peanut butter, & they're famous for green smoothies : )


I hope we end up getting one ^___^'


***Just came across this, take a look at all the fancy things you can do with a Vitamix, includes short videos to see how! - CHECK IT OUT

A great use for jars -

I realised this a few weeks back after I started saving jars.
Jars are great for shaking stuff! :D
I know, pretty obvious, but I never thought about it before.
This means that jars can assist you in making all kinds of things that require thorough mixing; things like sauces, dressings, & one of my favorites...


Chocolate milk, shaken not stirred.


Ingredients:
- 2 parts Soy Milky
- 1 part Almond milk
- 3 tsp of chocolate flavoring of your choice (I like Sustagen :3)
***(The amount of chocolate I use is for my little 350g jar)


Equipment:
- A clean jar that seals well (size is up to you)


Method:
1. Add all the ingredients to the jar, put the lid on, make sure it seals well & doesn't leak (maybe test it over the sink)
2. Go crazy shaking that jar for as long as you want (Probably at least 10 seconds to make sure everything is well combined)


Then you can drink your bubbly chocolate beverage right from the jar, hooray!

Tasty crispy potato home fries :D

Here's another quick & easy recipe that makes a perfect side dish or a great snack. : )


Home Fries Recipe -


Ingredients:
6 medium sized Potatoes
Oil for cooking

Natural Coyo yoghurt - To serve
Sweet chilli sauce - To serve


Method:
1. Wash & dry the potatoes & remove any blemishes, but leave as much of the skins on as possible.
2. Steam the potatoes whole until they are just cooked, but NOT mushy, you can do this on the stove or in the microwave (many microwaves have a 'jacket potato' setting under 'vegetables') You can check the potatoes with a bamboo skewer, when it pokes through the middle of the potato they're done! ; )
3. Allow the potatoes to sit & cool for 10-15 minutes to reduce crumbling when cutting them up.
4. Once the potatoes have cooled a little, carefully cut them into wedges or chunks, don't cut them too small though or they're more likely to crumble, then allow them to sit for another 10-15 minutes to cool a bit more before frying.
5. Add a light coating of oil to a heavy based skillet & put it on medium heat. Once the pan has heated up a bit add the potato wedges (depending on the size of your skillet you may need to fry them in batches) DO NOT stir the potato wedges or they may crumble, spread them out carefully & leave them to fry for a good 5 minutes, or until golden.
6. Carefully turn the chips (I just scoop & flip using a spatula) & add oil as needed. Continue this process until the chips are crispy & golden all over :D


Serve with the yoghurt & sweet chilli sauce, or any way you please.
 

Potato wedges cooling before being fried.

Sites that cheer me up...

I'm in a mood for all things Japanese at the moment, probably because I've been caught in a bad mood for a while & Japanese things tend to cheer me up :p
So I thought I'd share a couple of links to sites which make me happy...


justhungry.com - This site has been one of my favourites for years. It's a brilliant resource for information on a variety of Japanese topics, the main focus being food :D There are many recipes available too, from sushi rice, to red bean paste (tsuba-an) & many many others.

bentoandco.com - Bento&Co is the place to go if you want to see some beautiful (& cute) bento boxes (Japanese lunch box) There's a great variety of accessories too, so if you would like to start packing a lunch to take to work/school or anywhere else, this could be a good place to start : )
happyearth.com.au - Amazing people transforming a regular suburban backyard into a beautiful organic edible garden. Well worth a look!
ilovecob.com - A great site if you're curious about cob, there's an extensive gallery & interesting videos all about cob building : ) We can't wait to build a cob house to live in one day!


(If I come up with more I'll add them later ; )

My favourite cooking channel on Youtube...

Cooking with Dog! 


Here's their newest video...

All about fried rice...

Fried rice is one of my favorite meals. It's not overly complicated, once you get the hang of it you can knock it up pretty quick, & you can use basically whichever vegetables you like!

Here are a few that I like to mix & match...
- Carrots
- Silver beet (Swiss chard)
- Onion
- Red capsicum (Bell pepper)
- Peas
- Corn
- Zucchini
- Mushrooms
- Brussels sprouts
- Broccoli


I also like to add chunks of tofu in my fried rice mix, & sometimes I add roughly chopped cashew nuts too, s'all good.


Of course it wouldn't be fried rice without the rice! You need to have rice pre-cooked & ready to add to the veggies. This is far quicker & easier if you have a good rice cooker, because you can simply stick the rice on before you start anything else, you won't have to worry about it which leaves you free to started prepping the other ingredients.
If you don't have a rice cooker don't even worry, there are other methods to cook rice. The easiest I know of imitates rice cookers & is commonly referred to as 'the absorption method'.

This is my beautiful rice cooker. I bought it about 4 years ago on eBay, I haven't seen any like this since then, but take a look around & see what you can find. Tiger & Zojirushi are both excellent brands, but pretty much anything made in Japan is gonna be good.If you love rice a good rice cooker might be an investment worth considering..

& finally you need the flavoring ingredients, I like to use -
- Mirin
- GF Soy sauce, or Tamari
- Brown sugar or Agave syrup or golden syrup
- Salt & Pepper
- Diced garlic
- Vegan fish sauce


Ingredients:
- 3 cups Cooked white medium grain rice (approx 1 cup uncooked)
- Vegetables of your choice
- Flavoring ingredients of choice
- Oil for cooking


Method:
1. Put rice on to cook (preferably in a rice cooker)
2. Chop up all the vegetables to desired size. Mince the garlic & set aside.
3. Lightly beat 3 eggs in a mixing bowl/jug & gently fry them up (be careful not to overcook) & set them aside.
4. Heat some oil in a skillet & add all the vegetables. Cook on a medium heat for a minute & then add the flavouring ingredients. Cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
5. Once the veggies are ready, lower the heat & add the chunky scrambled egg & the cooked rice. Gently turn the mix & check the flavour, you can add some extra mirin, soy sauce &/or pepper if needed.
6. Once the vegetables are well spread throughout the rice, turn off the heat & serve :D


***NOTE - When using leafy vegetables like silver beet, don't add them at the very start with all the other vegetables or they will overcook! Leave them aside until the rest of the vegetables are almost done, they only need a minute or two to soften up, they taste best that way.


Not too difficult right. : )

Enjoy!

'The kindest cut' a short documentary that everyone should see...

Please watch...

It breaks my heart that so many beautiful animals have to be killed every single year because people refuse to take responsibility for their pets [:,(

A new character - Bear

I came up with this guy a few weeks ago, I'm developing him at the moment, I still have a ways to go. His back story is still very loose & sketchy, but I'm working on it.

I'm still working on his design, but I couldn't help drawing these up the other day.

Brand new cast iron skillets from Tennessee : )

Yep, we recently received our 2 beautiful skillets in the mail.
I haven't tested them out a huge amount yet, but I was very impressed this morning when I made pancakes, the skillet held it's heat amazingly, as you would expect, & the pancakes didn't stick at all! which I was quite (pleasantly) surprised at ^___^
I attempted to fry an egg the first day they arrived, it wasn't too bad, but it did stick a bit, but I've heard/read that these pans get better (more non-stick) the more you use them, provided you care for them properly... So I'll re-attempt frying an egg at a later date, otherwise I'm really impressed so far : )


Here are some pics-

These guys make an awesome variety of cast iron cookware, if you're interested at all their site is HERE.

NOTE: I just wanted to add that there are some things you must do, & must NOT do to make sure these pans work properly & last as long as they're supposed to (apparently 100 years : ) So please check out the use & care section before you go ahead & buy one.

***ALSO, Eli found THIS page the other day, it has pretty much everything you need to know about cast iron skillets, including some very handy tips ;3