Mmmm food!

I shared this recipe a while ago.....
Hokkien Noodle Salad
I decided to make it for dinner tonight....
And I'm hoping it will last that long....
It smells and looks delicious!


Ready for dressing, looking fresh and healthy.



Dressed and with a sprinkling of cashew nuts. This salad is not complete without the nuts!

Of course for the fussy eater in our family I had to prepare something a little more "average".
Spaghetti!

The count down to my due date has begun, slowly ticked and now I just give up! I have 5 days to go but it feels like this baby does not want to come out but instead taunt me with false alarms!



And yes, we have been trying all the usual "methods" to bring on labour but I am so tired that walking up and down stairs does not appeal and neither does burning my insides with hot curry.
I guess I'll just have to wait.....

Food Like This Puts A Smile On My Face.....

My days have been full of so much lately...

Finding new ways of keeping little Eve entertained,
Cooking up delicious (and usually healthy) meals for us all,
Keeping on top of the everyday chores while battling against an awkward belly and minimal energy....
The list really does go on!

My last 24 hours have been of unpacking, washing, folding, finding places for things in an already full unit and slowly getting all the baby stuff slightly organized.

Though I feel like a hippo most days I am apparently measuring small...



Some minor success in the kitchen for Valentine's Day...



The second time making profiteroles and the first time I was happy with them! They were delicious!

Then of course an old classic...



"Cupcake Pops" But I do mine a little different and call them truffles so no one gets too confused.

Dinner tonight...



Delicious Salmon With Sesame & Coriander Crust.
I have been waiting a long time with this sitting in my freezer but every time I went to defrost it our plans had changed and we had guests for dinner.
So I waited.....
It was worth it!

But this is still the most fun part of my day...



My gorgeous girl.
She loves asking us to read to her, but it is even more sweet when she gathers us on the couch and reads to us.
:)

Weekly Meal Plan

You may have noticed that I like to cook.
My latest goal has been to try out new recipes, hoping to add some to the pile of family favourites.

I thought I'd share our weekly meal plan for this week with you.
This week I am trying to empty out some of the food we have in our freezer.
Since we moved we couldn't bring our lovely big freezer with us so we are back to the tiny one with our fridge.
This can create problems since I like to buy meat when it is marked down and freeze it and my dear husband likes to buy tubs of ice cream :)
So this week our meals look like this:


SUNDAY: Vegetarian Boscaiola (Use meat free "bacon")

MONDAY: Savoury "Mince" (Using my vegetarian nut meat, very healthy stuff) with rice.

TUESDAY:Honey, Sesame & Garlic Chicken Drumsticks (marked down to $2.60 for 6) With Rice and Veges.

WEDNESDAY:Burgers With The Lot (Baking fresh bread rolls for these)

THURSDAY: Fish Fillets With Roast Veges

FRIDAY: Chicken/Vege Laksa

SATURDAY: Salmon Steaks With Rice and Steamed Veges

Of course I also like to do a little snack food cooking with Eve, it helps keep her busy, gives her something new to try and keeps the hubby happy too!
Last week I made these:



The recipe is for a slice but I wanted single serves to avoid the massive pieces my hubby dishes up.
The recipe is HERE and if you are confused at what wheat breakfast biscuits are they are an Australian cereal but you can substitute corn flakes in instead and it is still super yummy.

Not everything is sweet though, I also made this to use up some ham:
Zucchini, Carrot and Ham Slice.
I added some cheese to give it a little more flavour.

I also like to make breakfast a little more tasty than just toast or cereal so this week I'll be making these Pear, Banana & Cinnamon Pikelets.
Though I do alter the recipe a little by using regular flour and adding an egg or two to help the batter hold and cook better.

Do you have any favourite recipes you'd like to share?
I'm looking for cheap and easy ones!
:)

Yum Cha, Fountains, Sharks and Chocolate...

Yesterday we had an amazing day.
Two of our good friends from our old area came down to Sydney for the weekend and we were lucky enough to squeeze in a day full of fun with them.
I only wish I had taken our camera so better than phone snaps could have been taken.
Silly baby brain makes me forget things!
We started off by having a gigantic delicious lunch at the Marigold Yum Cha, followed by a quick shop across the road where we discovered a dollar store with too many goodies! I couldnt risk this really cute wall sticker set for only $3.



After a bit of retail therapy (and a messy nappy changing experience in the pram involving wee everywhere!) we slowly walked down to Sydney Harbour. It was a warm day and as we approached the water fountains we saw parents with children swimming, splashing and taking advantage of the cool water.
So we decided to do the same.
We dipped our feet in.
Then jumped right in, clothed and all.
The water was just about knee depth and the sweet coolness was so refreshing.
We stepped under the water jets and splashed around.
Eve came in with us though was a little scared at going in the water and preferred to sit on the edge and dangle her feet in.


(Just a little bit sunburnt by this stage!)

We finally dragged ourselves out of the water and headed off to the next stop....
The Maritime Museum.
Our friends had found out there was a free shark exhibit and well, we all like free things so we dove on in.
It was fascinating, so many teeth and terrifying facts and stories of attacks.
Us girls were more visual, don't read, lets walk and talk and explore while the boys slowly walked behind, reading every plaque.



The most surprising thing was that Eve managed the whole time in the pram and only fussed towards the end. We checked the time and somehow it was 4:35pm already! Time really does fly when you are having fun.
We decided to quickly head on over to our final destination....
The Lindt Chocolate Cafe.
Mmmmmm YUMMY!
I should have taken a photo of the food while it lasted.... But that wasn't long.
I ordered profiteroles and the hubby had an iced mocha.
The profiteroles were chocolate custard heaven. The small serving was not enough.
I explored inside the shop where they have so many more flavours than I have ever seen before. I went a little crazy and bought myself one cookies and cream ball.... For $1.25!
I can't say if it was good or not as it still sits in the fridge waiting......
Then it came time to say goodbye, find our car and drag our very tired selves home.
Waiting for the next adventure.....
:)