Curry creation for a bad mood day

Good evening lovelies J

To be honest, I was in the worst mood today! Not an angry mood or a snappy mood, just a down mood. A crazy order influx that appeared overnight, lack of communication, non-belief in information sharing, worries, concerns about my life in general, and failing to hear from an anticipated job application was the nail that sealed the coffin. I had everything going on today and in true Nancy style, my mind took off without me and left me making mountains out of mole hills once again. And thinking about my day now at 8pm, the only times that my mood got better was at meal times.

Lunch at work was a group affair and we all got involved and brought something along (I took the lazy road and got some mini muffins from the supermarket hehe) and we all sat around the tiny little table in our pod and had a communal feast J There was a marinara pizza, a olive baguette, ham and salami, a bakers delight pull-apart, some chicken and beef meat balls, my mini muffins, a fantastic fruit platter and some yummy Appletizer grape juice. It was a good break up to the hectic day that everyone seemed to be having which came as a relief and a forced break that none of us would have taken if we were organising our individual lunches. As much as a busy day can distract you from a bad mood temporarily, as soon as you have a minute of down time, you mind goes straight back there. So it was good to have a discussion and laugh with everyone over lunch time that was neither a bad mood or a hectic, procrastinating, tail-chasing, frantic order placing/fixing loaded day.

Dinner was decided on my way home late this afternoon. After a late night leaving work, it was dark on the way home. The temptation not to just get takeaway for myself was shifted when I decided to make Chicken Skewers and some sort of noodle dish. When I got home I shoved some chicken thighs in the microwave to thaw out and went and sat down. Then my mind shifted....to a curry! A delicious, winter warmer, belly filling, bad mood feeding meal. I had the rice, the chicken, the veges and I have recently added some curry spices to my pantry collection. I have been a late adopter of microwave rice I think, it seems to be something that everyone has been using it as a shortcut for many years already! I do love rice and traditional way of cooking it, but sometimes, convenience wins sometimes. Anyway, I used my new spices, Garam Marsala, Turmeric and Mustard seeds, along with some cinnamon, cumin and dried coriander to flavour my curry creation. They started off in the oil and I then popped in the cut up chicken and some chopped up beans, mushrooms and zucchini. Fried it all off and then added a small can of light coconut milk. Simmer for a while and then it was ready to be put on top of my brown rice!

The curry didn’t turn out to be anything like the rich, dark Indian curry I was hoping to create...but what it did do is make me think about which cuisine it actually fitted into, in a good way! It was tasty and brilliant colour due to the turmeric, and actually too me back to the Japanese curries that Aunty Celica (our maid in Singapore) used to make. It had a mild flavour, (which I was confused about because of the spices I used, but maybe I just need to come to terms that I have some work to do with my Indian spice visions) that reminded me of the Japanese flavours that I had as a child. But it did have a great flavour that had potential for improvement as well as being a fantastic first effort as a curry from scratch. And that’s what matters!

Xo

NJC

The dreaded work lunch!

Hello!

What are you having for lunch at work today? Work lunches are the demise of all people everywhere I have discovered…or maybe just me? I worry and stress all afternoon and night if I know that I don’t have anything lined up for lunch the next day. This generally means that a lunch time purchase is inevitable, which I try to avoid at all costs (literally), but where I am working at the moment is surrounded by delicious temptations! Sushi, noodles, soup, fried food and sandwiches are some of the temptations I generally fall for, when I leave my delicious lunch sitting alone at home, when I have no lunch organised at all or when a less than exciting one fills the space in my lunch bag.

I think the trick is to stick with easy to create options (obvious?).  But my trouble comes main from not spending the last night’s dinner at home so there are no leftovers to take! This is my downfall lately so I have had to create a meal in its own right for lunch each day, which is a very intense thought process for me. I’m trying to create something easy, nutritious, filling and try and use as many things from my pantry and fridge all at the same time! As much as I complain about it being painful for my brain to take all these variables into each lunch, I enjoy trying to think of things and finding inspiration from others and their choices.

But today, I think I’m on a winner!

Situation: Fresh brilliant veges in the fridge, lots of miscellaneous items in the freezer that I only identify as dinner choices and staples such as pasta, rice, breadcrumbs, herbs, spices and tinned “delights” of all kinds in the pantry.

Solution: 11pm at night…(after a whole afternoon and evening of thinking about lunch the next day) I struck gold when I started looking at the individual Tassal frozen salmon in the freezer as a feasible and easy option for lunch (MICROWAVABLE!!). Then my brain started trying to make a side dish or something to accompany salmon for lunch. Basil pesto and the most delicious S&W light mayo are the two things that caught my eye……

Execution: Straight away I flew over to the kettle and put it on, burst into the pantry and before I knew it, some shell pasta was on the boil. Cut up some veges and threw them into the boiling pot toward the last 2 minutes of the pasta’s time. Drained all of that and put it into two containers (Two days’ worth of lunch! Score!) mixed one teaspoon of pesto and one of mayo in the pasta mix and shoved it in the fridge! DONE! At work today, I put my frozen salmon in the microwave for 3 ½ mins as it said on the packet and put my pasta in for 1 min. Then put my pasts into a bowl and popped the cooked salmon on top!

Lunch doesn’t need to be hard, uninspiring or unenthusiastic all the time (occasionally I just go for the least effort required option too J). But for me, it brightened my morning knowing I had a great meal waiting for me in the fridge and freezer when lunch time fly’s around.

Xo

NJC

http://www.tassal.com.au/ 

Dinner with friends

Hi there!

Went out to dinner last night with a great friend and had a great time. Food is something that generates such fantastic conversations between people. Good food and wine coupled with a great atmosphere does something to a person, it makes you feel comfortable and cosy and always puts you in the mood for talking! I think the sign of a good night between friends is when neither of us want to stop the conversation to leave! As one of my other great friends says, us chatty women need to keep talking until we get all of our words out for the day! Conversations over food should never be forced or feel uneasy. Words and laughter should flow without judgement or a script.  I look forward to catch up’s with friends so much as a bit of a week-night treat. It’s great to catch up on the gossip, the world’s problems and compare our worries and concerns about our friends and life in general.  The overall theme is that women worry about everyone and everything! Friends, family, strangers, unborn children. families as a whole, brothers, sisters, parents, the past, the present and the future. Unfortunately there are no words or person that will curb this trend of love through worrying, other than in true women fashion, taking over food, wine and with fellow worriers (warriors?)!

Middels Tapas Bar and Restaurant in Drouin provided the great food, the wine, the great atmosphere and great staff to help us along last night which was great. I know that real wine lovers don’t see Moscato as a “real wine”, but hey, it is absolutely delicious, what can I say!?  It was a fantastic start to the dinner treat so that’s enough for me J We indulged in the tapas menu and chose the Trio of Dips which is always a compulsory addition to our dinner, a squid dish, a mushroom dish and a very impressive scallop dish (which I will be definitely getting next time). The highlight of the night always comes from the desert if the gods are feeling in the mood, and oh did it come to us in fantastic form! My love started when I realised that they had Sticky Date pudding in cake form, then coupled with a delicious butterscotch sauce, it was truly a forbidden delight. But I must say that the savoury delight of the night was the tuna dip that came in the Trio of Dips, we could not stop raving about it and devoured it much too quickly! This was a thrillingly deceiving dip which I would have been sceptical about trying if I knew it was tuna before I tasted it! It was so brilliant and I am in the process of investigating as we speak. I will be sure to post the recipe when I find the perfect one! J Well, all that topped off with a cleansing Peppermint tea, of which I think is the best I’ve had (T2 of course), ended a great night.

I hope you all take some inspiration to catch up with friends more often if you don’t already. Find the people in your life that care what you have to say and you enjoy talking to, and treat yourself to an evening out with them. You may only be able to think of one person, or you may have many that you would like to catch up with, but don’t get depressed or worried about the numbers, just enjoy yourself J

Xo

NJC

www.middels.com.au/

Comfort food

Hi!

My comfort food is Asian food. One dish that I make is a noodle stirfry and I chuck in anything that is still fresh enough!
On this occasion, I used cabbage and zucchini, but you can use anything veges and meat you want. I have made it with chicken before and have had fantastic ideas about using Chinese sausage next time too!

I must say that I have finally found the closest alternative to the noodles I remember from Singapore in the supermarket! Pandaroo Thin egg noodles are by far the most authentic I have found and are easy to prepare and add to your dish.

Anyway, my comfort food used to be something that I could only buy, but now I am working on creating it for myself! So im stoked! My comfort food stems from a childhood growing up with Asian food, so I love recreating and rediscovering those flavors. Where does your comfort food stem from? Does it have any significance?

-Asian noodle stirfry-
Speed and preparation is your friend when making. I know, blah, sounds like effort, but it's not as hard as it seems.
1.Slice up veges and meat as rough as you want.
2. Chuck one noodle bundle in a pot of booking water as per the directions on the pack. Separate as they cool with a fork or something.
3. Throw some sesame oil into the wok along with your meat. Cook the meat until just cooked. Remove into a bowl.
4. Throw your veges in and swish around. Throw in some oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and as much/little fresh chilli or sauce as you want and mix with the veges.
5. Drain your noodles as they have been boiling along nicely now while you have been wizzing through your stirfry.
6. Add the meat again along with the cooked and drained noodles. Mix and serve!

Xo
NJC

First post!

Hi there!

My name is Nancy and this is my blog about my life and how I see food. I want to glorify food in all areas of my work and home lives and explore how they intertwine into the common theme of my passion for food. I think about what im going to cook for dinner all day, I am forever thinking about further improvements and I will always think that taste outweighs all other variables  :-)

I see some impressive places in the Australian Victorian countryside and eat and drink at some fantastic rural locations. Be prepared to hear a lot about these great country locations and their food  :-)

I cook for breakfast, lunch and dinner when time permits and we also eat out when the social agenda runs hot!

I hope you all love food as much as I do and can experiment and explore with flavour, places and cuisines too!