dish 14) soya burgers a la jade

ZOMG! I cooked THREEEEEE dishes from scratch on the weekend. This was the first one. I have never used soy beans before so I picked some dry ones up from the market on Friday ($4 per kilo) and soaked them overnight for this little beauty. I found a recipe online but of course didn't follow it properly (oops) but they turned out pretty delicious! Here are the first and last pictures, as the in-between ones were pretty un-impressive.

Can you see the hair on the beans!? Gross, didn't notice that until now... hmm. I thought they tasted a little hairy haha. Anyway here are the patties about to go in the oven:

The flavour was amazing, but they were still a little soft in the middle. I don't think i'll ever figure out how the dude from "Vego 'n' Lovin it" does it. I like soy beans, they are supposed to be one of the best legumes around in terms of nutritional value. They are also cheap azz. They went down a treat at the BBQ I attended on Saturday and I gave some more as a gift to my friend's mum. The rest are now in the freezer for later easy consumption!

Here is a rough recipe of what i did:

2 cups dry soy beans

6 cups stock (veg or beef)

2 tbsp. oil

4 garlic cloves, diced

2 large onions, minced superfine

1 carrot, minced superfine
1/2 green capsicum, minced
1/2 red capsicum, minced

1 tsp. sea salt

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1/2 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp. parsley

Pepper and salt

2 tbsp. peanut butter
Squirt of light soy sauce

*'no egg' if you want to thicken it up vegan style.

- Soak the soy beans in water to cover overnight. Put soy beans and stock in a large pot, and cook over low heat for 2 1/2 hours until soft, making sure they are always covered with liquid.

-Skim the gunk off the water as it cooks. (I heard that this foam is what exaccerbates bean-related flatulence, but I have read an article today which says that it is indigestible sugars in beans which cause gas and not the foam. The article says that the foam is caused by water soluble proteins.)

- In a food processor put in the onion and blend to fine bits. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add the garlic and onions and cook until golden.

- In the food processor, add the carrot and capsicum and blend into tiny flecks. Add this and seasonings to the onion/garlic. Cook for 2 minutes, until tender.

- Preheat oven to 180C. Oil a cookie sheet.

- Drain the soy beans and blend up in the food processor. Combine them with the vegetable mix in a large bowl. Add the peanut butter.

- Form the mixture into patties and place on the cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes; turn burgers over and bake for 20 mins more.

These go really well with tomato relish or fresh tomato :) mmm hungry!!

boudoir bonanza

Hi there :) The other night I got a bit restless and decided to give my bedroom another mini-makeover. Since buying a house I have been struggling with how slow life moves financially. I live week to week and have to wait for so long for anything I want. I have an eternal list of wishes and things to do... but I love it really. It feels so much more like an accomplishment when you plan and work and fiiiiiinally achieve. Growing up I was used to watching my parents decide to do something and fully achieve their goal in a single afternoon. Sometimes I would come home from school and my mum would have totally re-lanscaped the garden, or re-arranged the furiture in the whole house, including my bedroom- don't worry I put a stop to this once I reached high-school fo real. Anyway I guess mum's "go-get 'em" attitude rubbed off on me and as a result, in my adult life, I usually can't sit still at nights. Woop.

So here are some shots of the slow progress of my bedroom makeover taken over the last 4-5 months. Unfortunately they are all of the same wall and the bed... the rest of the room is not as visually striking... yet... haha. The lamps and bedside tables in the first photo were my first purchase to help create my new look bedroom haven...

Basically when I moved into this house I was going for "WHITE! EVERYTHING WHITE OR CREAM!!!" I chucked out my burgundy and gold everything and decided for a brighter feel...

Then I painted the walls to give the white furniture more attention...

Behind the scenes, I also got my new tv, and re-arranged the furniture and cleaned out my walk in robe. Then I put my new IKEA $20 bedspread on...

Then I had this idea:

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!! I love my room!! There is still more to go, but by blogging about the process it will push me to do more :) woop woop!

dish 13) poor man's eggplant parmigiana

I bet, like me, you are wondering what the name "eggplant" is all about...? Well the good old Internet helped me out on this one, as it's one of those things you always very mildly wonder about, but never research. WELL it turns out that the Eggplant is native to India and slowly spread across the world. By the time it reached places like Australia, NZ, Canada, and USA the common varieties were white and looked like goose eggs... hence the English name Eggplant. Most of the rest of the world calls them Aubergines.

Eggplants/Aubergines are slowly making their way into my diet. The trick is to cook them in certain ways otherwise they are repulsive. Don't do what my housemate Maki did and pick a raw bit off the chopping board and pop it in your mouth... you will not like it. It is bitter and spongey. BUT cook them properly and you will fall in love! One such dish which is now added to my favourites list is Eggplant Parmigiana! Did you know that eggplant parmigiana was the original dish and chicken/veal parmigiana developed in other countries where Italian Immigrants were living? Amazing.

My earliest knowledge of Eggplant Parmigiana was in my first year of Uni in 2005 when my Italian friend Mark enlightened the socks off me. Every day his dad would make him 2 Ciabatta rolls with delicious fillings like roasted vegetables and fetta cheese, and sometimes... Eggplant Parmigiana. I was only working part time then, and money was a bit of an issue. That, coupled with my inherent ability to forget to make lunch almost every day, left me drooling over his Ciabatta rolls more often than not. It drove me crazy. Well, sometimes he let me have a bite of the Italian goodness (that sounds bad) or lent me some money to get a Foccacia or something. He was a mad friend :) But seriously I envied his big Italian family, I thought my family needed more culture... especially in the way of food. But living in this big multicultural place called Australia, I think it's fair to say we can adopt any food culture as our own. So I am taking this dish under my wing, and I'm dedicating this one to Mark :)

Actually in true Uni spirit, I have no money this week, I didn't factor my impromptu IKEA trip into my budget so I'm eating very cheaply until pay day :) I somehow crawled out of my Grand Final #2 hangover cave on Sunday night and made a nice Vego Bolognaise, but then added lamb mince to some for me and Josh to cure us. With the leftover vego pasta sauce I thought it would be perfect in this dish which I have been meaning to make for years. I call it a poor man's eggplant parmigiana because i used leftover sauce, and used half quantities of tasty cheese/parmesan as i was running out and didn't REALLY follow a recipe. Here's what I did:

I finally made use of the Grill which Josh bought me for my Birthday back in June. Poor Josh thought I was never going to use it!

Cut up the eggplants into 1/2 inch thick slices and put them on the grill. If they aren't grilling add a little olive oil.

They go all gooey and creamy on the inside with a nice charred flavour on the outside!

Layer it like a lasagna in this order: sauce, cheese, eggplant, sauce, cheese, eggplant etc. and finish with sauce, cheese and breadcrumbs. Put it in the oven until it browns on the top and the sauce is bubbling :D

oh yum :D

ikea trip omg

Sooooo I went to IKEA on Friday night, and picked up a few things!! I could have gone insane there. In fact my purchases were already too numerous as i had to carry it all home on 2 trams and a train... oh well! It was worth it :) Here's what I got:

Photo frames x 3

cool thermos for drinking tea out of :D

6 wine glasses as I keep breaking mine :(

a cute baby blue throw rug. Haven't decided if i want this in the bedroom or on the couch...

a vase! I didn't reeeeeally need this... wait i didn't really need any of this :D

a lovely bedspread (only $19.95)

A nice big jar for my chickpeas :) I will have to start getting more so I can have lots of dried beans and things :D woooohoooo. I think i got all this for around $70 - which I think is awesome! When I get home i will put up the picture frames. I just need to get some pictures for them!!

dish 12) jamie oliver's chicken/potato roast

Well actually the recipe is called "Crispy and sticky chicken thighs with squashed new potatoes and tomatoes"... a little long don't you think? Anyway I was at the Grand Final BBQ last Saturday and the 'Jamie at Home' cookbook was open to this page on the bench:

Josh and I were drooling a little at the sight of it... after all it was 3pm and we hadn't had lunch! I knew that I had the same book at home so I made the dish last night for Josh and a vegan version for Hayden for when they got back from band practice at 10pm! Here's mine:

It lost some of the lovely green flecks in the cooking process, but I swear to you, it was orgasmic! I covered it in olive oil, salt and pepper, thyme, rosemary, a little basil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar and threw a few unpeeled garlic cloves in for good measure. They are really yummy cooked like that! Everything was crispy on the outside but soft and fluffy on the inside. We all chowed down in silence except for the occasional "mmmm!!!" or "yum!", it was nuts! Haven't had a success like that since ratatouille or the re-make of the frozen chili con carne. Josh was so cute, he said "You really have a flair in the kitchen!" and i knew he was being sincere and complimentary but it did sound slightly 50's husband-ish so I told him to pat my fanny next time he says that. Poor Josh :) I agree Josh, I AM pretty amazing!

Also, 10 points if you saw the lemon pip in the photo sticking out like a sore thumb. YOU CAN'T UN-SEE IT NOW!!!

jamie's clothing sale!

Well folks, I must tell you about one great thing I did on Sunday.... I attended Jamie's clothing sale! You are probably all like "uh, whatttttt???" so please allow me to explain! I think it is safe to say that my friend Jamie is a shop-a-holic (Jamie, if you would like to refute this, I will revoke the slander against your name!). She buys things only to wear them once, twice or not even at all. Her wardrobe is absolutely bursting with pretty dresses and nice jackets and bags! So about 6 months ago she decided that she needed to downsize. She was going to put each item on eBay and take photos and ship them all individually etc... but then she thought "who could be fucked!?" and decided instead to have a garage sale-esque affair to which her friends would come and purchase her unwanted items and give them a new home and a new life! So she held her first sale 6 months ago which, I am sad to say, I was too poor to attend after just buying my house and getting back on my feet.

BUT THEN!!!!! fortune smiled upon me when I received a text message on Saturday announcing that the very next day would behold yet another sale! After hearing good things about the first sale I was quite interested to say the least! Jamie had said that she didn't have everyone's numbers and forgot to put it on the net so there were only 4 of us there in the end. It was great for me because I got lots of nice things!! If you don't believe how cool it was, check out some of these reactions...

Well it certainly was rad! Once we arrived we were handed a glass of sparkling wine with strawberries in it, as well as a slice of berry cheesecake! There was this chilled ambient music playing in the next room and the place was decked out like a shop:

Everything we picked up we had to try on, and do a little fashion show! Amazing. I got 3 brand new handbags (volcom, forever new, valleygirl), a wallet (billabong), a dress (valleygirl), 2 button up plaid shirts, 3 cardigans, 2 skirts, and 2 or 3 jumpers all for about $50. Let me hear you say AMAZING!!! "AMAZING!!"

So now that I have some new bags and wallet, I can finally let mine retire...

Oh Batman wallet, I'm sorry to see you go. It's hard to believe you were once $20 from Dangerfield, after all the laughs we shared. I used to have a picture of Josh in you, from when he was in grade 3. He looked like Harry Potter. Every time I opened you at a shop people would either think I'd had a child very very young or I was a pedo. Josh didn't mind, he said the joke was on me. It all started to become clear to me how things were going when I took out my bank card only to find a sticky glue strip along it. I then noticed you were cheaply made and all of the card slots had exposed glue, and all of my cards became sticky and tacky. I put up with this for a long time, fervently wiping the glue off with my thumb before handing my card over to the shop assistant, then wondering if they had noticed the stickiness of the card. Of course they had. They all had. But I was loyal, i still flashed you around like you were some prize trophy. And for what? More glue? More strange looks? When the zip broke I knew... I knew I would have to say goodbye. You started spilling coins all in my bag, I couldn't handle it. It was just too much. Along came this $1 billabong wallet and I couldn't resist a break from the glue and the lost coins. I went for it. I'm sorry. This may just be a rebound wallet until I can find another to match your visual attractiveness, who knows? But I'm happy. I hope you understand.

Oh Dangerfield "China Doll" bag. You were my friend for such a long time! Again, your demise started early and kept going to the very end. Your beauty was such that veritable strangers would comment on you, and friends would confess they wanted to steal you from me. It started with the broken lining into which my possessions would slide, causing me to have minor panic attacks thinking I had lost my phone or iPod or paw paw lip balm. Then the leather straps started to crack from over-use, and somehow half a bandaid got stuck to the bottom of you and i was too grossed out to remove it. I pretended it wasnt there. Then the fabric on the outside started to tear, and I knew I had to find a replacement. Again, these bags may not touch as many people's hearts as you did, but for now i have a new lease on life and will always remember the places we went. RIP.

*love*

So ladies, let's all encourage Jamie to go shopping all the time so we have lots more amazing things to look at at her next sale!!! She thinks it will probably be in about another 6 months! So if you are australian sizes 10-14 BE PREPARED! Get your cashola ready and make sure you get in early to get some great bargains! Jamie is so appreciative of all the things we bought and I'm sure is excited for her next chance to downsize her collection and see her beloved items go to a new home :) This time I'll help promote it so she gets 100% of her stuff sold! Can't wait!! :D

Dish 11) Zucchini Slice

Well I finally made this dish! I tried a really yummy zucchini slice many years ago and thought I might try my hand. I used this recipe from Taste.com.au but it lacked the flavour of the one i tried once upon a time IMO. Maybe one day I'll get given a really finely-tuned recipe and it will rock my socks off! Oh i added some carrot to the recipe...

It looked OK and tasted OK. Maybe I am just really fussy with my cooking. Yes, I definately am :P What to make next....?

Project Update

Wow, what a busy weekend!! My dad came back from Sydney and began work on the pergola again. It's pretty tall, and it was scary being up that wobbly ladder :S but it will be totally worth it when it's done :)

This is still very rough, and as i had to go out in the afternoon I didn't get a picture of where he got up to. He got all the top beams in place so now he just needs to tidy it all up and attach the roofing!

The fences are so low, if i stand on tip-toe I can see 4 backyards over. What is this, the 50's? Fuck man. I want to get extenders on the fence or put up some lattice for a bit of summer party privacy. Hoorah! Oh also, another thing I'm working on is the rabbit hutch in preparation for getting a wee rabbit! Once the pergola is done hopefully that will be the end of loud noises and i can safely get my bunny! So Josh's sister donated me this hutch, and as you can see, it needs a little bit of TLC...

Josh tells me that he made this years ago for the rabbit :) Even more reason to hold onto it and give it new life. I don't have big plans for it as yet because I have to focus on making a chicken coop BUT i plan to sand it back and tack down the chicken wire and give it a fresh coat of outdoor paint. I bought a similar colour because it looks so bright and happy! Will get onto that ASAP :)

frames and bunnies

Firstly, look at what I saw at the Vic Market yesterday....

I want to buy this rabbit, LOOK HOW CUTE IT IS!!!!! I think it was looking out the corner of it's eye at me weeeee!!!! OMG Ok, calm down, calm down!

What I was really wanting to post about is picture frames. I have lots of photos which i want to display in my house, but I'm not 100% sure how I want to go about it. I could stick the photos themselves onto the wall in a big collage... or i could use lots of frames. I think I like the frame idea, but then the secondary question arises of what way to display them? A random cluster of different shapes and sizes...

Or a more uniform arrangement with similar frames and all lined up in rows?

Wow, i love the white floorboards :D *one day* ahem... I already have lots of frames from the op-shop so i guess i should use those and do a nice little cluster. I will probably go for the black and white look and might have to get some card to make faux mat board. I am excited! The only thing is, i think it would look more effective on a coloured wall but I am planning this for my hallway... which i don't really want to paint. It's not like a cool victorian style hallway, just a boring modern one. I will have to get cree-ay-tive!

I stumbled across this blog the other day while i was looking for pictures of the kitchen from the movie "It's Complicated". It's called Hooked on Houses and this woman is totally obsessed with houses and interior design. There is a section there for Movie and TV houses where she puts heaps of still shots and explanations and quotes from the set designers. I found out that the production designer for It's Complicated, Something's Gotta Give and The Holiday are all the same- which explains why when i saw the movies i was wowed each time. Great style! I haven't gone through it yet, but there is soooo much still to see. I hope to get some good ideas to add to my *dream house* collection of photos. Enjoy!

fat tooshie!

Howdy gang-bangers! Firstly I'd like to shout out props to my boi Roo for becoming the newest follower of the subarizzle ba-lizzle! respect. No longer shall he lurk in the shadows singing along to the rasmus "I've been watching, I've been waiting, in the shadows..." crap song. crap song.

So anyway last night I made dish 10/52... a dish you may have seen around called FATTOUSH. It comes from Lebanon but I think a few other countries in the Levant have similar dishes. It fits nicely into the category of "summery salad" and is really delicious, here's some eye candy for you:

It's really dead easy to make, let me show you how:

1 round Lebanese bread
Vegetable oil for deep-frying (or you could oven bake it or pan fry it)
2 Lebanese cucumbers, finely diced (if very fresh, no need to peel)
2 tomatoes, finely diced
½ cup radish, finely diced
½ red capsicum, finely diced
½ green capsicum, finely diced
4 spring onions, finely diced
2 tablespoons mint, finely chopped
½ cup parsley, finely chopped

Dressing:
juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Basically you chop everything up, and then add the torn up bread at the end. Oh actually I added like 1 Tbsp of Sumac as well.

I found that recipe on the SBS website - lots of yummy international recipes from all their cool cooking shows! God i love that channel. Anyway, we ate our fattoush with fish, but i used Blue Grenadier for something a little different and it wasnt great. It turns out i'm not really a fan - it's a bit bland, but that's what this list is alll about hey? Trying new things, and deciding what i do and don't like! Turns out i fucking LOVE fattoush, and i imagine lamb and yoghurt would go beautifully with it :) this will be a fattoush summer i think!

Speaking of my list, my pergola is under construction! My dad is super busy so he has been fitting in the work on it here and there and now he is in Sydney helping his brother do some home reno stuff. When he gets back he will finish it off. But here are some pics of our first day of work:

My dad wanted me to show everyone his makeshift "plumb-bob" for getting a straight line, but after looking up what a real plumb-bob is, i don't know how accurate this double adaptor could be...

It has all posts in at the moment, and also the top beams and stuff but i just forgot to take a photo! I'll update later in the week!! I did actually help, as I specified in my list that I must! I carried one heavy post and put it in the hole, i also helped to measure it all out, and i held stuff and passed tools etc. There wasn't too much that I could do really, but I think dad appreciated my help nonetheless. We'll see what more I can do when he starts work on it again!

Oh look at this photo of Evan showing his approval of the pants...

Sneaky! I had Joshs's Sister's 21st on Saturday night and Josh made such a nice speech! Brought a wee tear to the eye :) It was a lovely set-up and there were 2 frozen daquiri machines and more booze than you could imagine.. so needless to say i got a little crunk. Friday and Saturday night both crunk nights. Sunday i was absolutely dead on my feet. Can't drink as much as i used to at 18 haha. Probably a good thing for my body though I would say :) So now I am running out of things to say today! Except I can't stop watching Skins and when I get paid I am going to rape and pillage Bunnings and Spotlight for all my upcoming projects WOO!