There is always something new to try!

How quickly a Sunday rolls around and I look back to reflect on the things I have achieved in the last week.  This week, I can definitely say was busy as I sit here enjoying some couch time trying not to think about going back to work tomorrow.

Last weekend I headed out for lunch with some friends and was really excited to try a new African/Ethiopian cafe, cafe Merkama.  I was very pleased that they cater for people like me that can never make decisions about what to order by having a tasting plate on the menu.  We shared a selection of 8 dishes accompanied by an Ethiopian flatbread.  I think this was the most surprising thing of the meal, it had such a unique taste not to mention the look and texture.  It reminded me of a sponge and was really bubbly! You should really check this place out.  I had heard great reviews and not only was the food great, but the service was amazing.  We were greeted with a cup of tea when we arrived which was perfect in the cold Ballarat winter. Lunch certainly gave new recipe Sunday something to compete with! I tried another lamb shank recipe this week but they were individually wrapped up in baking paper and cooked in the oven as parcels.  The meat was cooked really really well but I was disappointed with the flavour.  The spices and juices that were bundled up in my parcels dried up much quicker than anticipated.  I probably wouldn't do this one again. Lunch won this round!

Monday rolled around quicker than anyone wanted but I was actually looking forward to a little bit of a change as I headed out to a food handlers course for the day.  It was something I actually found very interesting not only for my job but obviously enjoying cooking it certainly made me double think a few things I did during the week! 

We also had a morning tea at work this week so I took the opportunity to cook up something a little bit different.  I have been looking at the Sarah Wilson, I Quit Sugar recipes recently.  The diet or plan or detox isn't something that I think I will try but I do really enjoy trying some different recipes using alternative ingredients.  I decided to try a Raw Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake (except I substituted for blueberries as I already had some).  It was actually a lot messier to make than the recipe sounds, mainly mixing with the food processor.  So if you do give it a whirl, beware it did not mix very easily!  It uses a lot of nuts, I am not sure if I have mentioned it before, but I am not a huge fan of any kind of nuts so I didn't love it to be honest.  I will definitely try some more of her recipes and I did have some good responses from other people, although who knows if they were just being polite!!

My work week continued to be busy as expected so when the weekend rolled around again I was really looking forward to some relaxing time.  It didn't really turn out that way as I had a lot to pack in to two days.  I was catching up with some friends for a special milestone birthday on Saturday night of a very beautiful friend.  I headed out to Daylesford Saturday afternoon for a goddess themed evening.   She requested we bring out a signature dish so I took the opportunity to make a quick and easy guacamole, always a crowd pleaser.   It was a lot of fun and lovely to see some old friends over dinner at the Daylesford Hotel.  Nothing really jumped out at me on the menu so I decided to go with a scotch fillet burger.  I am not a big steak eater so I was a little nervous but it was really really tasty.  The chutney was delicious and I can't remember the last time I had bacon, I always forget how good bacon is!  I really enjoy Daylesford and for a 30 minute drive I do not get out there enough, something I will try and change in the near future.

As the weekend draws to a close, I am excited about heading out to dinner with my girls tomorrow night.  I love having new things to try and write about!  Good luck getting through the work week, for those teachers out there, happy last week before holidays!!  Smile brightly xox

Is it the winter blues already?

Another busy week and it is just starting to sink in that this year is on the downwards slope.  I still feel like it's a brand new year but for some reason this week I have figured out that it is actually not the case.  The year is more than half over people! Am I the only one that has taken this long to figure it out?!

I am not sure if this realisation has a side effect of me losing my motivation for both exercising and healthy eating or if it is maybe the realisation that winter is actually really here, goodbye sunshine!  Either way, for some reason the thought of pizza and wine would not leave me so I decided it was time to just give in.  It was delicious too, totally worth it!

With my pizza and wine craving taken care of (although don't be surprised if I tell you I went back for seconds in a weeks time) it was back to cooking new and exciting things in my kitchen.  For new recipe Sunday this week I decided it was time to embrace winter and try a hearty pie. Beef and Ale Pies looked so delicious in the cook book pictures I decided to take on two new challenges.  Cooking with any type of liquor hasn't been something I have tried before and I have never made my own pastry for anything so I was a little nervous.  I feel like I say this most weeks but I was more than pleasantly surprised with the results.  I think this is the best new thing I have tried to date.  Seriously people, give it a whirl, you will not be disappointed.

After the long weekend, my work week seemed to fly by and let's be honest, who complains about that!  Before I knew it, Friday night had rolled around and I was heading out to dinner with my amazing girlfriends (one of these day's I will get a snap of them so you know who I am talking about!).  Being a Friday we were able to have the men in our lives join us for a night at The Western, which was a nice change and very overdue.  I haven't been here for a meal since I got back and it has been completely renovated.  I really struggled to choose something off the menu so when we decided to share some nachos for an entree, I went for the calamari and chips.  I can't say I was overwhelmed with the food, but I do think it may have been my choices.  I love some spice and the nachos were mild to say the least.  Is it possible to be more mild than mild?  The corn chips were also a little strange, they were obviously home made, which for me is an automatic plus, but I can't seem to describe it other than strange! I wouldn't order them again.  The calamari was cooked really well, I would definitely order this again but next time either in the salad or as the main.  With just chips, the meal was a little greasy and wasn't very easy to eat the way it was served, I even had to ask for a plate!  Presentation over practically?  Not sure that was a good choice.

This weekend has been very very quiet so far.  I have however tried a new and exciting sweet recipe already but I will save that for next time.  I am heading out to lunch at a new African cafe today, Cafe Merkama, so I look forward to reporting back as I am really excited that Ballarat is getting some new and different cuisine for me to try.  Thanks for listening xox

All dressed up and ready to party

Well...so much from trying to post on a weekly basis! In my defence, I have had a busy fortnight, which by the way did not include waking up fresh as a daisy as hoped after my last post! It took another few days to get over my cold so I slowed down for a couple of days and let the weekend go by without too much action.  It was such lovely weather that I didn't want to stay indoors all weekend so I went for a stroll around the lake while the sun was out and shinning.  It has been a while since I have taken the opportunity to go for a walk by myself to enjoy the fresh air without listening to any music.  It was a beautiful morning topped off by wandering through the farmers market although no purchases were made this week.

I also couldn't let Sunday go by without trying a new recipe and I am not really sure why I decided to make two different recipes and both very time consuming but it seemed like such a good idea at the time.  I made char sui chicken dumplings as well as black bean pork pot stickers.  I did make my own pastry for the chicken as this was a deep fried version of a dumpling but used store bought gow ghee for the pot stickers. The chicken was a little bit of a disaster I think, probably the first new recipe Sunday I was really unhappy with.  I don't have a deep fryer so just fried them in a saucepan and I think this was the real problem as I wasn't able to get the temperature of the oil right.  Luckily the pork was really delicious so I didn't feel like a complete failure for the night on top of being sick!! This was a fairly simple recipe even though it was a little time consuming so I would recommend giving this one a go.

It was back to work for another jam packed week but I definitely wont bore you with work!  I didn't even make it out to dinner with my friends this week so I don't have an exciting restaurants reports for you so I'll just skip straight to the weekend again haha!  I had a family 21st on this week so I made the long and tiring trip down to the farm on Saturday and back again on Sunday.  I remember why I don't do this anymore, I am not sure how I used to do this on a regular basis as a Uni student...maybe coming back to 16 hours of class for the week instead of 40 hours of work for the week had something to do with it!!  Getting back late means there was no new recipe Sunday so instead you get to see a picture of me and my lovely Mumma all dressed up and ready to party.  I certainly left my healthy eating habits back in Ballarat for the entire weekend as I chowed down on some delicious party food!  I always enjoy going home to the farm, even if I complain about the long trip, but it is always worthwhile when I get to see all my extended family which seems to be less and less as the years go by. Why must we all grow up and move to different places!!!?

I have managed to make it through the week and I am really looking forward to the long weekend at home with no plans what so ever! I hope you all enjoy your weekend and perhaps get some cooking inspiration to try your own versions of new recipe Sunday.  No matter how tired, keep smiling as you never know who may smile back xox