Mal's Meatloaf

Image courtsey of: taste.com

Well I never thought I'd see the day where I actually liked meatloaf but this recipe is so good! Highly recommended.

Mal's Meatloaf

• 500g mince of your choice (I've tried beef, chicken and turkey)

• 1 carton of full fat sour cream

• 1 packet tomato cup a soup

• a heavy sprinkling of Italian herbs (I use parsley, thyme and basil)

Mix till combined and placed into a meatloaf tin lined with baking paper.

• 2 rashers of bacon - diced

• BBQ sauce (use a little or a lot)
  

Top meatloaf with the diced bacon and BBQ sauce. Bake for about 45 minutes at 200d and enjoy.

Spider-Frog

Fuzzy made this gorgeous 'spider-frog' at school for their campfire learning journey. They had made a pretend fire out of stones and cellophane which they were roasting marshmallows over. These delightful little creatures were stationed all around the campfire.

So well crafted. I am placing him inside my book shelf, where all of the Stringy's special pieces are. Am starting to think I'll need some more book shelves to store our growing collection of artworks.

Op-travaganza #7

Another successful op shop at Salvo's Belconnen.

Me:

• white leather sandals $3

• Adidas shirt $3

Husband Deluxe:

• T shirt $3

Free: Beatles for Kids CD. Scratch free!

Total spend: $12.

My thoughts on op shopping: wow I can't get over what people throw out. Now I'm a fuss pot when it comes to shoes but I've managed to score another brand new pair of sandals today. The Adidas shirt is also brand new. I am totally stocked. Admittedly there is a lot of crap in there too, I just don't buy it hahaha.

In lots of ways it is enabling me to re stock my wardrobe for a fraction of the cost that I'd pay retail. Obviously good for the environment too. I've taken to decluttering again and have been donating stock as well.

Op shopping makes me happy :-)

Suzyboo's Beef Stroganoff

Photo courtesy of taste.com

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 kg blade steak, cut across the grain into thin strips
• 2 medium brown onion, cut into thin wedges
• 2 tsp minced garlic
  
• 500g mushroom flats, sliced
• 125mls white wine
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 125mls (1/2 cup) beef stock
• 2 tbs dried parsley
• 1 heaped tsp paprika
• 2 heaped tsp cornflour, mixed in a little water
• 250g carton sour cream
• pasta to serve

1) Fry up the steak till nicely browned in two or three batches. Remove from the pan once browned.
2) Fry the onion and garlic till cooked. Add the beef and mushrooms.
3) Add the wine and allow to cook till reduced slightly.
4) Add the tomato paste, stock and herbs.
5) Simmer for about an hour. If you used a better cut (such as rump) you could simmer for a shorter time.
6) Once cooked stir through the corn flour mix and sour cream.
7) Serve over pasta.

We had ours tonight with home made Turkish rice and steamed veggies.

Xavier

Still so very sad you couldn't stay. You were due today. A life cut short. Not with us for long enough.

Lara: you, S and the kids have not been far from my thoughts today. Even in the midst of the unrelenting grief you manage to honour your angel so beautifully and eloquently. I am in awe of what you have created and your willingness to share your journey with me. xox

Double Chocolate Muffins

Photo courtesy of: taste.com.au

What to do when String Bean has a friend over this afternoon and the cupboard is bare? (Well all the ready to go stuff has run out, but my baking supplies are always available.)

Double Chocolate Muffins
Makes 36 mini muffins

2 cups SR flour
1 cup sugar
3 tbs cocoa
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg, beaten
90g butter
250g chocolate chips

* Mix flour and butter to resemble breadcrumbs.
* Add sugar and cocoa
* Throw in rest of ingredients and roughly mix - it doesn't need to be perfect with muffins.

* Cook on 180 for about 20min or until brown.


Will update later with the kids opinions on these.

















The kids loved these muffins. Easy and not full of numbers so happy here.

Squealy scoffed 3 of these!

The Boys

hmmm I could hear Evanescence so decided to check out what the boys were up to. Watching a fan made Youtube of Cars with Wake Me Up as the background music.

How cute are these two little boys? SUPER CUTE!!!

Sydney

Melbourne Cup day saw String Bean, Mal and I flying to Sydney for a whirlwind trip to see the Pead and shop either side. hehehe managed to score cheapy flights with Virgin. Loved flying Virgin, nice and new.

The staff were also really friendly and went out of their way to be nice to String Bean.

Was so hot in the city: 37 degrees. Lots of lovely dresses, ridiculously high heels and feathery head gear. Melbourne Cup is taken very seriously in the big city. Walked past the massive TAB marquee at Martin Place which was packed. Didn't bet, too busy shopping.

Was a relaxed and easy day. So much better than driving and trying to park the car in the city.

Fire Dancing

as Tim calls it. I could get my camera to capture this properly the other night.

Photos by Jess.

Doing tricks!

A Fire Twirling Dinner Date

We were invited to Mal's last night for a BBQ with the gang.

Many Mimosa's followed by the best BBQ ever (Tim cooked Jamaican Jerk Chicken) and beer with lime (Tim's home brew: Cerveza Lobos).

Tim and La Cerveza Lobos.

Photo courtesy of food.theatlantic.com

SuzyBoo's Mimosa Recipe (my fave cocktail atm)

* Good quality sweet champagne - Asti or Ricca Donna are both great
* Sweet juice - orange and mango is particularly nice

Serve half and half in a martini glass. You could chuck a strawberry, mint or orange slice on top if you could be bothered but not really necessary.

Once we were all nicely inebriated Tim, in his infinite wisdom, pulled out his fire twirling stick. We all had a good go. Tim is fabulous and has been practicing a lot, doing some great tricks. Husband Deluxe loved it, but he managed to get burnt on his upper arm! Go figure. Didn't hurt but he smelt like burnt hair and kero lol.

Am planning on posting Tim's Jerk Chicken Recipe as well.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken: Tim Style

Image courtsey of: i.ehow.com

Jamaican Jerk Chicken: Tim Style

• 1 tablespoon Ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon Dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Ground sage
• 3/4 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons Garlic powder or fresh
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 1/4 cup Soy sauce
• 3/4 cup White Vinegar
• 1/2 cup Orange juice
• 1 Lime juice
• 1 Chilli
• 3 Green onions -- finely chopped
• 1 cup Onion -- finely chopped
• 1 whole boned chicken - Tim got this at the chicken shop at the Belco Markets.

1. Chuck it all in a 'bucket' and marinade for 12 hours (haha this is Tim's recipe).
2. BBQ till crispy.
3. Slice it up and serve.

This was seriously good! For more info on Jerk Chicken see here.

mmm that's tasty!

Well the casserole was so delicious.

Everyone loved it and all bowls were empty with a minimum of fuss.

100% success rate!

Next time I'd probably chuck some mushrooms on as well (I didn't have any in the house!)

Squealy ate a huge bowl full, he is going off because we had to rewind the Old Tom video!

Slow Cooker Beef and Red Wine

Photo courtesy of taste.com

What do you do with stacks of left over red wine from Geek Night? Cook a stew of course!

Beef and Red Wine - Slow Cooked

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1kg chuck steak, diced
• 1/3 cup seasoned plain flour
• 1 tin of tomatoes, pureed
  
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup beef stock, Massel brand
  
• 2 large onions, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 400g chat potatoes, halved
• 2 sweet potatoes, diced
• green beans, chopped
  
• pepper, herbs to taste ( I added thyme and parsley)

1. Chuck the steak into the slow cooker and coat with flour.
2. Chuck in all other ingredients and stir to combine.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Will check in tomorrow. Hopefully it's a thumbs up from the tots.

K1

Squealy has taken to swimming like a duck to water. He sped through Transition and is now in K1 class. He loves swimming and has so much fun.


Today was abit touch and go as this is the first time he's been in the pool without Husband Deluxe. So he did spend abit of time 'exploring' hehehe

Fiji

This is going to be a super quick update as this was 2 1/2 weeks ago... wow! & I should really be writing my end of year reports.

So we arrived in Fiji at about 7pm (5pm Australian time) and by the time we got through Customs, collected our bags and landed at the resort it was 10pm!

The view from our window: The Warwick.

We stayed at The Warwick Resort and Spa and can not sing their praises high enough. All the staff were really friendly, great facilities including a fab gym! We paid for a Warwick Club room which included a room in an adults only section of the resort... woot. We went for the All Inclusive Package, so everything was included. All meals, drinks (except cocktails), all activities (except scuba) and some tours. To say we loved our stay at The Warwick would be an understatement. Highly recommended. While there we went on two tours one to Sigatoka and another to the waterfall near Suva which included a village tour and yes we did drink some Kava.

We then went by sea plane out to Malolo Island Resort. Hmm we kinda wanted to head straight back to the mainland and the heavenly Warwick :( So the facilities were basic, staff fairly unfriendly and we were only on a meals package. So everything had a cost attached (except Internet was free!) Anyway after mopping for awhile we got into it. Lots snorkeling out on the reefs surrounding Malolo. Husband Deluxe went for a sandbar tour and we both dived 'The Back Of Honeymoon'. Pity the reef was being munched by Crown of Thorns star fish and alot of the coral was dead!

So we will probably head back sometime soon, with the kids next time.

Fiji is truly family friendly and there were families everywhere!

The back of Honeymoon Island.

Ni Sa Bula!

Bula is spoken so regularly we got bored with it an asked around to get some other phrases.

Ni Sa Bula: More formal greeting.
Ni Sa Yandra: Good afternoon.
Vinaka Vakalevu: thank you very much.





Got some more written down in the diary but can't be bother walking to the Bure. Officially on Fiji time and can't upload any photos for you all. Oh well I promise to when were back home.

Fiji is great. Totally loving it. Lots of fun.

Reno #14: Bathroom Complete

The new craft cupboard in the laundry.

Buster's new home & heating vent (Laundry).

At long last our bathroom renovation is complete. Husband Deluxe spent quite awhile painting, installing window locks (no more daggy sticks in the windows), and just general tidying up. It's probably been finished for about 2 weeks, but I've been so busy lately that I have been neglecting my old blog!

Husband Deluxe's new study nook (laundry).

New dryer, and laundry sink.

So here it is Sam, just for you: because you asked so nicely. Karen: I haven't forgotten. I'm planning to upload the before and after spread when I have more time than I do today!

New vanity and mirrored cabinet.

Stringy and the new toilet.

So there you have it. We had a few pretty minor things almost go wrong, but we got there in the end.

New shower screen and fixtures.

Shower.

If anyone needs a bathroom or kitchen renovation completed in Canberra contact: Peter at Kitchen's Direct. We're really pleased with the quality of the renovation and so happy it is all over now.

A New Puppy...

called Scruffy, who needed a new home. String Bean had the opportunity to build this unhindered as the boys all headed out together for an adventure.

Such a creative little soul.

So cute!

Here is little Fuz. He's set himself up: kiddy chair to sit on, a dining room chair to lean on, textas and an activity book.

Watching Insider on the ABC with political commentary blaring: priceless!

An 18th!!!

Kimmy and Simmy. Overjoyed with the Birthday cake.

We were invited to an 18th last week (haven't had a second spare to post about it!) Kim celebrated in true outdoor style: BBQ, roaring fire and booze, booze, booze. Was great, esp. as there was a free flowing supply of champagne: my fave.

Husband Deluxe and Tim were on BBQ & beer duty. I was busy helping set up salads and the rest of the food.

We all had a great time and unfortunately just made me feel really old. Esp. given that all the young bunnies hung out at the fire and all us old crusties headed for the warmth inside and the comfort of the couches roflmao