We are back from Australia and we have some news!!

We have a little ray of sunshine scheduled to arrive on the 2nd of May.
We are both over the moon excited – but promise for this not to turn into any pregnancy/baby blog.
However, any recipes and advice are incredibly welcomed !!

So here are some photos from the trip to Australia

We flew Cathay Pacific who I have to say I was very impressed with. I thought the entertainment system was sensational and the meals were okay too. The service was really friendly and although I wasn’t drinking I noticed that they were stingy on the wine like some other long haul flights. The Man was very happy as I ordered a wine and he could drink it. They also had sandwiches, fruit and nuts available in between meals in case people got hungry – the pregnant lady made good with a fresh sandwich.

Here are some photos and place that we went to dinner at. It’s great to be back

Federation Square Melbourne - Chicken, avocado, bacon focaccia with aioli (mayonnaise)

La Porchetta St. Kilda - Spaghetti/Tortellini Carbonara with garlic bread and greek salad

Southbank - Pasta with chicken, spinach and cream with garlic focaccia

Stoke House St.Kilda - Pizza in the sun

Little River Cafe Swan Valley - Slow cooked beef amazing! This place is a little gem only the locals know about x

Spaghetti Bolognaise – the last one before holiday

The Man cooked again last night – I know he is really going above and beyond at the moment, it’s the last meal to be cooked at home (we plan on eating out the night before) and so we wanted to use up ingredients in the fridge and not buy to much new fresh produce that won’t last. So it was fairly simple but very tasty. Fried onion and garlic with mince, mushrooms and bacon with a pasta sauce last night. We haven’t used one in a while but without the extra fresh herbs I thought we could use a jar just this once.
I have also purchased new pasta bowls to try and cut down our portion sizes as well – I think they look great. However, I did have grated parmesan on top.

So we leave tomorrow – flying Cathay Pacific there and Qantas internally in Australia, I promise photos of the plane food and the meals we have while on holiday. We are also going to try and do a local bolognaise and roast.

Sunday Roast Lamb Cutlets

I purchase a rack of lamb from the local butcher, at £12 I know it was an extravagance but we hadn’t been out all weekend. The man made dinner, I know he has been doing all the cooking lately (v.spoilt) he seared the side with the fat on it in the griddle pan and popped it in the oven for 30 minutes. He par boiled the potatoes before hand and put these in the over about 15 minutes prior to the lamb going in. I have decided that the smell of cooking lamb is without a doubt my favourite smell of a Sunday roast. He boiled beans and cabbage and made his special mushroom, garlic and tomatoes sauce to accompany.
The lamb cutlets were amazing – juicy, tasty and well worth the money! And I am definitely on the road to recovery.

Steak with mushroom Sauce and homemade fries

I purchase the Tesco Finest Fillet Steaks, they are not cheap but are well worth it. Restaurant quality and simply incredibly tender and easy to cook. The Man was in charge last night and so chopped up peeled potatoes and after coating them with oil popped them in the oven. He made an incredible mushroom sauce by sautéing some onion and garlic then with some white wine, lime juice and Philadelphia and added chopped mushrooms. He served this with boiled green beans and steaks pan fried on the griddle pan. The mushroom sauce was my favourite part. The steaks were beautifully cooked and we had room for the ice-cream we couldn’t manage to fit in last night.
Tonight is my turn and I am going to venture to try a rack of lamb with green beans, cabbage and potatoes (haven’t decided between baked or Dauphinoise)

There is a steak under there I promise

Friday Night Chili

Finally feeling human again, breathing has returned to normal and only a lingering cold left. My appetite is definitely back and I felt like something comforting and warm – Chilli Con Carn it is to be!

I went to Tesco to do the gathering -I have spoken before about how I try to do something pub worthy on Friday nights as a strategy to sway us to stay in – drink less and save money. This week I decided on a chili con carne with the trimmings – corn chips and sour cream. When I make this during the week I leave out the later to make it a tad healthier. So the gathering consisted of an Uncle Bens Con Carne sauce (cheating I know but its Friday) Mince, Tesco Sour cream and Chives (I love this condiment seriously tasty) Doritos and Rollo Ice Creams for after. I also gathered some smoked salmon and lime to have the next morning for breakfast on fresh bread with the left over sour cream (my favorite of all breakfasts) and some sparkling water and a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand (Part of the Tesco wine festival on at the moment)

The end result was spectacular as I hope you can tell, although there was no room for the ice-cream as we were simply far too full, but very content x

The Gathering

The Finished Result - Definitely Pub Worthy

The only Spaghetti Bolognaise I didn’t love

And thats not because it wasn’t amazing – because it was. It’s because I have a shocking cold, cough, sore throat and was feeling really faint. I really wanted to try this recipe from Cooking Healthy For Me, unfortunately that is going to need to wait until I am better as The Man was left to cooking and as such he wanted to do it his way. Fortunately I had gathered the mince on Sunday from our local butcher. Now I have talked about this before – but I always find it daunting going into the butcher as its always a surprise how much things are going to come to once put on the scales and therefore your now ownership – well I just about fell over myself when it came to $5.00 for 500g. Ah I think I will be going back to the less expensive butcher near work in the future. So as I lay on the couch the man went to work – to tell you the truth I didn’t pay much attention to how he made it this week (sorry) and the finished result looked amazing and steaming hot. He put steamed spinach under the bolognaise for some added iron – bless his cotton socks. The only problem was that my cold reeked havoc on my enjoyment and I only got half way through before having to excuse myself and go off to bed.
So after a few days off work I am finally feeling on the mend. Thank goodness as in one week today we are off to Australia !

£5.00 Mince - expensive, but did taste very fresh

So nice but just not well enough to enjoy

Perfect for when not well – let someone else do the cooking

It was a rainy rotten Sunday and I have come down with a shocking cough and sore throat. So the man came to the rescue with a roast chicken, served with cabbage, peas, carrots and roast potatoes. The Man also made his special tomatoes sauce (sautéed onions and garlic with chopped fresh tomatoes) it’s perfect for a roast and last night was more like a chutney.