Fast fruit - preparing for tomorrow

 

Last night we had a healthy taco dinner (which I forgot to photograph) . I always do my mince with a mix of chicken and beef mince. I just use Aldi's packet with all the ingredients. Its quick and easy, this is one of my other alternatives to getting take-out. I would normally rather use my own herbs without the fillers and no MSG, but I figure I still know pretty much whats in it all. Our accompaniments were: avocado, sheep's feta, Greek yoghurt, taco sauce (that came in the pack), roma tomatoes and lettuce. Very yummy.

For desert I cut up a fresh fruit platter (in the picky above)

I also separated off some of the fruit and cut it up for smoothies for breakfast. So the  smoothies I will be making over the next few days will have a mix of rock melon, banana and grape. I put this cut up mix into separate snap-lock bags an popped them in the freezer. This is going to be part of my "prepared for 2013" strategy. So I can be healthy and less stressed and hopefully lose some weight as a bonus.

Full smoothie recipe yet to come, with lots of pickies.

xx

 

 

Boxing Day Dinner - creamy scallops

 

With a house full, I had ordered extra seafood for boxing day dinner. And it went something like this:
Fresh scallops
Fresh green prawns
Leek
Coriander
Garlic
Creme Fraiche'
Snow peas
Angel Hair pasta

Just toss it in the pan in the usual order and add parmesan cheese to serve x
Yummmmmy
All the kids ate it to, from age 6 - 15.

What did you cook for boxing day dinner ?


 

Sunday night dinner - Lazy

 

After a day in the garden and inside sorting out which of the kids toys to keep and what to give away (exhausting). I really could not be bothered cooking ! However, since I really don't like take away I usually start just throwing something together rather than get take-out. As any other foodie will contest, once in the kitchen, well, you know, the creative juices take over.

So tonight I cooked:

Voila ! 

Scotch fillet steak with sauteed vegetables and steamed corn.

Vegetables were shallots, fennel, leek, carrot, zucchini, brocolini. I caramelised the shallots,fennel and leek with some crystalised honey I had. I then cut the other vegetables up smallish putting in the stalks of the brocolini in as well and leaving the heads until the end.
 

You can see in the background the odd lengths of corn, that's because they are fresh from our vege garden.

 

The finished product, just a little coconut oil garlic and dill and the vegetables do the rest. Husband and kids satisfied xx

 

If you would like more detail on the cooking of this dish just comment below - thanks guys x

 



Annies Lane Kaffe Scarborough - Review

This is the first of what I hope to be many reviews on food providers. Of all shapes and sizes, cafes, restaurants, take-away, fast-food and more. I am in them a lot, so I figure, why not share what my experience's are. So to kick this off I will share the opening night at Annies Lane Kaffe. Annies Lane Kaffe   is situated on the beautiful Scarborough Beach Queensland. This cafe has been recently taken over by the lovely Annie and the gorgeous Ed. Thank god for the new owners, the previous ones were beyond ridiculous (that's another story) Crisp linen table clothed tables add to the already lovely environment, looking out over moreton bay. They had a duo singing and we also had a special appearance from some carolers, awwwwh.

 

 

You can check this and other reviews of mine at

Urban Spoon

 

Annie's does breakfasts and lunch from Wednesday to Sunday, and have just started Tapas. Tapas will be on Friday nights to begin with and if last night was anything to go by you will need to book to get in.

I do love Tapas style eating and this was an attack on the senses. Beautifully presented and good portion sizes for sharing - tick. Calamari melted in the mouth with a lovely crispy covering an aioli dipping sauce. Prawns were on a crispy julienne salad with sweet chili sauce (were a little over cooked but still delicious and fresh)

Beef empanadas were a hit with the whole table. Chicken and mango lettuce parcels. Mushroom and feta on rocket salad and mussels with garlic butter sauce were all divine. There are a few other items on the menu (which I will try next time) The prices start at $8.90 and go up to $12.00. We were certainly full bellied at only $22 per person.

Annie and Ed are still awaiting their liquor license so they invited Ocean View Estates Winery  to supply the wine for this evening. We enjoyed a smooth Shiraz.

I have been thinking about how I am going to rate my experience's, which I am a little adverse to doing. I am also sure I will want to re-rate earlier reviews as time passes, but a girl has to start somewhere.

Hmm so what to use, Sun dried Tomatoes ? Juicy grapes? Crispy Croutons? Hot fries? That gets me thinking. I will be reviewing all different venues, so maybe I should have different scaling systems for different categories. So for High level Restaurant / Cafes I will use Truffles. For all other restaurants/cafes, Sun dried Tomatoes. For other types of venues that aren't really trashy take-away let it be juicy grapes and for takeaway venues, hot fries.  All out of ten.

So the verdict on this Tapas experience will be (drum roll) 6 sun dried tomatoes. I have had two other real tapas experiences, one in Sydney and one here on the Peninsula and I am using these to help me come up with this rating.

Definitely worth a visit, it was their first night and from our perspective the entire night went smoothly. Oh and the kids loved it so thats always a bonus- well done Annie and Ed x