Shocking! So long gone....

Well, it has been a while.  And, while I have been continuing to eat, it has been crazy here.

It all started with the 'saving money' for the big overseas experience.  The plan was Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong this winter, and summering in Europe and the UK. 

Sounds amazing doesn't it.....

Then I took my class on a camping trip to the National Juggling Convention.  Also sounds amazing, and it was!

But I returned home.  My husband had managed to make friends with a kitchen designer over my 4 days away and book in a new kitchen.

And I have a new kitchen.  Which used to be my backpacking through South East Asia.

Just as the plumber was finishing up with the kitchen, I overheard those words, "I can start Monday"....

And now we have a purple bathroom. 

At the moment all the supplies for the laundry are in my living room, and the floor men are all set to lay tiles in the 4 areas...... yes, even the small toilet room has had a make-over.

And in the wake of all this re-decorating nightmare, blogging went out the window.  Actually, cooking and showering were out the window for a long time.  Soon I'll post images of my glorious kitchen, now that I have sort-of moved back into it.  I am not a master of organisation at the best of times, and in the chaos of re-modelling, even worse!  All my bento supplies have been packaged into a box, hidden from view.... and now, they are back.

Hopefully, I will have lunch posted tomorrow.

Soon I shall be back....

I haven't blogged my lunch recently, and I should mention why, rather than have you all thinking I am ignoring you.

There was an earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.  I'm not in Christchurch, but I have spent a lot of time there.  It is weird to see places I went to lying in rubble. 

And why am I not thinking about lunch?  Every morning there is a special news coverage of the quake.  I have become addicted to watching, seeing how people are dealing, checking in on rescue/recovery efforts, and generally feeling more of a part of what is going on.

So I have not thought too deeply about my lunch.  Shortly, I shall get back into it.  Shortly.  For the time being, I shall continue to follow the story.

Ambrosia on the run

This was a lunch from last week- it feels like a LIFETIME ago!  The start of year is so busy!

Basically we have a simple egg and pasta salad, whipped up with garden greens, a pottle of 'travel ambrosia' (those long-time followers will be well aware of my desire for the perfect ambrosia for lunch).  The top layer of the hamburger bento has a baby-bel cheese round, with a face!  I got the punch to work!  I was totally stoked with that.  There is also a thingy of ginger, mixed nuts with cranberries, fresh blueberries, mini toffee-pop biscuits and some cracked pepper crackers.

I am just so run off my feet.  A smart woman would plan to make her lunches in the evening..... maybe I'll do that. 

On Thursday I'm off to the National Juggling Convention!  YAY!  I am looking forward to practising my Circus skills and hanging out with other strange folk.  Sometimes I think I have the best job in the world. :D

Muffin Tin Monday - No theme.... 'cept veges

As you all should know, this is my year of eating better.  I have been.... ummmm.... wavering a little in the heat! 

And my other writing projects have taken over my computer time (sorry)... And my house is being painted (does the work EVER end?)

But, here was my muffin tin:

1.  Beetroot umbrellas
2.  Corn on the Cob (with retro corn handles)
3.  Carrot sticks
4.  Cucumber sticks
5.  Hummus dip (with sinking man.....)
6.  Mini-salad (with cherry tomato plants.....)

Banana and Apple Pancakes

This morning I felt like banana pancakes.... but I got a bit carried away with the making.... and actually, these are better.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup dried apple

Directions

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, mash bananas, and mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and dried diced apple.
2. Mix flour mixture into wet mixture.
3. Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium heat. Pour the batter onto the pan, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides; serve hot.

Next time I will use brown sugar instead of white. 

So, what's going on???

It's been busy around here in the last week.  Busy in a good way.

The garden is back in shape after the jaunt to New Caledonia.  I'm not sure why all the berries decided to stop growing while we were away, but methinks the sister who was meant to do the watering probably forgot.  The lettuce went to seed, the peas turned to straw, the berries stopped fruiting and all the roses needed trimming.

But, we are back on track.  The cucumbers are doing better than ever, we are about to be inundated with tomatoes, the radishes are almost done, the chili's are growing faster than I can harvest them (I think this would be a brilliant cash crop if we didn't eat them all on a yearly basis!).  Yesterday I planted more peas, lettuce and celery.

Grapes, growing nicely, looking forward to them ripening

Cucumber!

And in the category of cooking.... the garden has been great.  I made fresh spag bol the other night using only lamb mince from a friends farm and things from the garden.  I stopped sort at making my own pasta, because being without a pasta machine means that I stubbornly make it by hand.... which is labourious and not so attractive afterwards. 

On the sweet and tasty front, I've been trying to create the perfect apricot ball.  After reading all my recipe books, which is no small feet, and checking out internet recipes, I tried the most popular one (which had condensed milk, cocunut, apricot and caster sugar.)  This was too sweet, and too coconutty for me.  I tried a version with malt biscuits broken in, but were still too sweet and cocnutty.  But, I think that I shall have the perfect apricot ball recipe by the end of the weekend.  I was going to upload a picture, but.... I kinda ate them all before photographing..... :D

With school back in 2 weeks, I have just a fortnight to get all sorted for the mad-morning rush!  So, after sorting out my bento cupboard, again, I went and bought a whole load of plastic containers for storing my cups, mini-cutters, picks, etc.  Tomorrow's task is to sort of the drawer.......... which is bulging at the seams.  And what happens to all the bento bands?  I seem to lose them.  But, I have a plan, which I will post out to all my readers once I have sorted out.

I do have a question for my readers...... I have LOADS of zucchini/courgettes.  We are now at the stage that we are sick of eating them.... what recipes or ideas do you have for using them?  I've been making lots of vegie fritters, grating them into dishes and generally trying to think of something fun to do.  What do you do with them?

Iskender for tea

I ordered the Easy-Lunchbox last year, and the set arrived while I was away.  I thought it was time that I gave them a whirl.

Last night I put some leftover rice in the large compartment.  With tabbouleh in the fridge, a Turkish iskender was totally on the menu.

While the falaffels were dry-frying, I harvested lettuce and cucumber, grated a carrot, and popped it all in the lunchboox with a little beetroot.  In the small containers, hummus and a little left-over natural yogurt.

When the falafels were done, dinner was ready.  And did I mention, I have tabbouleh and cooked falafels left-over for tomorrow.  I did say I was the master of the letover... :D

I was impressed with the depth of the compartments in the easy lunchbox, it held enough for my dinner, which was nice, as I still treat this as the largest meal of the day.  A little difficult to eat from cross-legged, but I could infact eat at a table.... (Being a Drama teacher often means I spend a lot of time sitting on the floor with my food.....)